The Wandering Entity Never Perishes
by The Leader of Monkeys
Summary: A million years have passed and the legendary shinigami that saved the Soul Society countless of times has been alive since, watching the earth re-build itself after the Godlike-beast whom started the ninja-world was defeated. Just out of boredom Ichigo wakes up from a fifty year hibernation of sorts and sets off on a new journey. What will he encounter?
1. You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Bleach or Naruto**

**Slight Kenshin-like Ichigo**

* * *

**The Wandering Entity Never Perishes **

**Chapter One: You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do **

'_Having a hollow with regeneration powers absorbed into your soul and just having a long life span in general due to being ridiculously strong can have its advantages, like for instance you'd never die unless someone murdered your ass, or you were pussy enough to actually commit suicide… not me though. Despite being alive for as long as I've lived and seen the things I__ ha__ve that'd turn any ordinary man __mad __in the head, I continue to live_.'

Those were wise words from the immortal one.

A tall orange haired-young-looking young man of about 20 or so sat on air above boiling lava itself that bubbled within the massive brown volcano of which he hovered over. He cracked an eye open while his reverse ninjato sword rested underneath the white sash tied around his waist. "So bored…"

The man said to no one in particular as he wore an open black windbreaker over a short-sleeved white t shirt that had a kanji printed on the front for 'one'. His black trousers had white strips going down the sides, while he wore black sandals to fit in with the world he'd come to know as 'home' for the last one million years.

His brown eyes scanned his surroundings. Not a single building he'd come accustomed to seeing back when he was just a normal teenage boy could be seen in sight. Hell the memory of when he first became a shinigami seemed like nothing but a distant memory to the powerful entity that was Ichigo Kurosaki.

A scowl sat itself firmly on Ichigo's young features, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss Aizen and Juha Bach."

He wasn't saying that at the time when he fought those incredibly powerful foes that threatened to wipe out all in existence with powers and knowledge of all things considered dangerous. He was just itching for something to do.

Purifying hollows were out of the question as the hollows had signed a treaty of sorts with the Soul Society, choosing to instead linger in their own world until the shinigami go into their realm and cleanse them with their Zanpakutos, thus allowing them to pass onto the Soul Society.

"Ya know what, I'm just gonna wing it and free roam the place… again." He growled deeply at the last part. He'd pretty much seen all the new things the remodelled-world had to offer. He'd even learned how a single man came along and introduced a new found power called 'chakra'. Even going out of his way to teach Ichigo this power in optimistic hope he could pass on his vast knowledge to others, and spread peace throughout the world.

The once-bad-tempered youthful-looking man kissed his teeth at that. He wasn't naïve enough to believe that 'ever-lasting' peace existed. He'd seen too much and watched too many close-love ones die. His long-time friend, Rukia, and beloved twin sisters, Yuzu and Karin, hit Ichigo the most. But watching his father, Isshin, and his other good friend in Chad die on their death beds had him shredding tears of sadness. Hell he even cried for Uryu when the smug bastard died on his death bed.

And that was when Ichigo knew he'd to man-up.

Even still, he tried to keep the world stable with his overwhelming amount of spiritual pressure he obtained over the millenniums, which seemed to past him by, as if he were sleeping above a volcano while the world around him evolved, (or devolved in this case). If one wanted to count meditation as sleeping, then Ichigo was sleeping above the volcano, for fifty years, strengthening his already impressive powers.

Ichigo stood up, grabbing a sack-bag on his lap before he shunpo-ed (flash-stepped) out of existence, going to the first place he could think of where he could at the very least fill his stomach.

xXx

(Elsewhere)

xXx

"Gaara!"

The voice of a blond boy of fifteen years of age reverberated through the forest as his legs carried him through it at a neck-breaking pace with two females and a male trailing behind him. The bangs of the boy's spiky blond hair was kept out of his eyes by a long-black headband tied around his forehead that'd a metal-plate on it with a leaf insignia engraved into the metal-plate. He wore an orange and black jumpsuit with a pouch sat on his backside and black-sandals on his feet.

"Naruto, calm down! Panicking won't get us there any faster!"

The second fastest one of the four bellowed at the blond haired shinobi now known as Naruto Uzumaki. He was taller than the blond by a few inches, had silver spiky hair that was slicked to the side as if he were a scarecrow, and had dark eyes with one covered by his headband. He too wore a Konoha head-band with a leaf insignia engraved into it. Only his was tied around his forehead in a styled manner so it could cover his left eye. He'd a mask over his face as well. He also wore a green-flanked jacket with a red swirl on the back of it like Naruto's jumpsuit. Underneath that he wore a long-sleeved dark blue jumper, dark gloves with metal templates stitched onto them, dark blue trousers, and blue shinobi sandals.

Naruto gnashed his teeth angrily. He could feel a very similar malevolent chakra within him leaking out that caused his eyes to turn into red slits. His teeth sharpened into canines, the six-whisker-marks on his cheeks darkened and turned more feral.

"No way, Kakashi-sensei, these bastards have taken Gaara away! I'm not going to stand for that!"

A girl with pink hair shivered involuntarily at the deadly feel of Naruto's chakra before she chipped in her insight level-headedly, "Naruto, stop, we understand Gaara's your friend, but he's also Temari's brother! How do you think she feels, eh?" The girl had emerald-leaf green eyes, pink arm-warmers, wore a red sleeveless blouse-top, a short pink skirt with black shorts underneath and long black boots reaching to her knees.

"You don't understand Sakura-chan!" Naruto insisted stubbornly, making the girl now known as Sakura gasp a bit. "No one understands the burden of loneliness Gaara and I shared. We've both been scorned and hated among our follow villagers, and for what, for some dumb shit!?" The pink haired girl couldn't see Naruto clutch at his gut as tears formed in his eyes, "All those bastards care about is power, power, and for what? What's the purpose of killing someone who worked so hard to get to where he was in life, eh?! Is it just for a means to an end?!"

A girl with blond hair done up in four pony-tails looked at Naruto dejectedly, 'Naruto… I never realized how alike you and Gaara actually were.' She thought as she wore a black kimono dress with a red sash tied around her wrist, leggings, a headband that had a metal-plate stitched into it, but hers had a hourglass insignia on it. And she wore toed-high heels on her feet.

And a long black fan sat itself on her back.

Temari could see the tears flowing off of Naruto's eyes as they hit her in the face with a silent thud. Her eyes grew wide as she witnessed Naruto race ahead of them which in return made the pink-kuroichi sigh inwardly, as she pumped chakra to her legs to desperately keep up with the retarded ninja Naruto Uzumaki to no avail. Temari slightly touched her heart and looked at the running form of Naruto with sadness in her eyes.

'Thank you… Naruto Uzumaki…'

xXx

(Elsewhere – Location Unknown – Ichigo)

xXx

Within the time-span of say, a couple of seconds, Ichigo reappeared right in the middle of a village surrounded by sandy wind that consistently blew the villagers who wrapped themselves in light-clothing to shade themselves from the boiling heat beating down on them.

What was really strange to Ichigo was that no one approached him despite him appearing from out of nowhere. Granted he did sprint into an alleyway the moment he shunpo'd (flash-stepped) into the village, but with how long he'd lived the-once-boy-now-immortal-man had gotten accustomed with walking into hidden villages, and getting surrounded by ninja.

"This is kind of weird…" Ichigo mused to himself, sword sheathed in his white obi tied around his wrist as he strolled through the streets of the village, noticing people's depressed looks, and tears flowing down their cheeks, "Did something occur while I'd my back turned?" Ichigo questioned himself dumbly, scratching his head.

"You!"

Ichigo almost felt a little relieved hearing a voice call out to him as he turned around to see a tan-skinned man wearing a turban over his head that covered the left side of his face while he'd weird-markings on his right cheek-bones. He'd a metal template stitched on the top forehead-part of his turban that had an hourglass insignia engraved onto it. He wore a pale yellow jacket, a brown long-sleeved shirt underneath, brown trousers, and brown sandals on his feet.

"What are you doing in the hidden sand village?" Baki asked as he narrowed his eyes at Ichigo.

Ichigo held up his hands in what he thought was a disarming gesture, "Easy, easy, friend. I only came looking for a place to eat. I don't want any trouble."

Baki was still suspicious of Ichigo as he drifted his gaze to the sword resting on the back of Ichigo's hip, "You do know this is a shinobi village, do you not?" A nod of verification came from Ichigo in response, "And you dare have the audacity to bring a sword into our village. For what purpose have you done that for? Are you just trying to take advantage of a weakened village?"

Ichigo's own eyebrows furrowed in thought as he reached for his sword, making Baki stiffen up, "Well first of all let's start off with my sword and go from there." The easy-going warrior pulled out a silver ninjato of average length that'd a black hilt with gold lines on it. What caught Baki by surprise was the actual blade on said sword itself, "Do you think I would come looking for trouble with a blade like this?"

Baki examined the sword from where he was, but as he stepped closer to take it in his grasp, Ichigo pulled the sword back while wiggling his free index finger in a chiding manner, "You can look, but you're not touching it." Baki narrowed his eyes, but was still able to make out the blade being on the other side of the hilt.

"A reverse blade?" He questioned incredulously, getting Ichigo to nod while Baki gave him a one over, "Well you don't seem like a ninja of any village, and you carry a reverse blade. Why is that?"

Ichigo's features darkened slightly, "It's very simple. A blade is a weapon used to kill, that it is. One uses the sword to slice their enemies down in cold blood that they do." Baki's eyes grew wide as he heard Ichigo's description of the sword and what it was used for. The way the young man talked one would've assumed he was a veteran who'd participated in many wars, witnessed tons of brutal deaths that turned him into the hardened man Baki stared down today.

But he couldn't have been any older than twenty-three.

But here he was talking like an experienced warrior, even more so than the legendary sannin that was Jiraiya.

"Who are you?" Baki asked suddenly.

Ichigo sheathed his sword and let a small grin spread across his face. "I believe it's proper courtesy to introduce yourself first, is it not?"

Baki scowled at the smartass remark. "I'm Baki. And this village you're in is the hidden sand village."

"I know that Baki-san. And I am Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki the wanderer." Ichigo Kurosaki introduced himself calmly, getting a nod from Baki. "So tell me something Baki-san. Would you do that for me?"

"Depends on what it is." Baki shot back as other sand shinobi watched the interaction between the two from afar. Baki was one of the top jounin-elites in their village. Surely he could handle one random passing stranger if it came down to it. The way Ichigo dressed made him look like a normal civilian. 'This could be a façade to get us to let our guards down.' Baki noted. 'But why would he? Gaara's already been kidnapped by the akatsuki, and we've already requested the assistance of leaf ninja.'

"I noticed that the villagers around here are looking rather depressed. Why is that?" Ichigo asked curiously, making Baki sigh.

"I shouldn't really be telling you this, but it's not like it would make a difference at this point." Baki started, making Ichigo tilt his head to the side. "Our kazekage was kidnapped by an organization known as the Akatsuki."

"I see." Ichigo growled with a dark edge in his voice. "So that's why your defences seemed kind of low, did it not?" Baki recoiled slightly at the enigma's words, getting a shake of the head from Ichigo, "In any case, I hope you can recapture your leader. I'd love to help, but as you can probably tell, I'm a simple wanderer. I would be a liability more than anything else."

Baki nodded his head, "Yes, I understand Kurosaki-san. We've requested back-up from the leaf village and their Hokage has sent for back up. Hopefully they'll be here in approximately two days."

"Any specific reason why that is, Baki-san?" Ichigo asked seriously.

"Kankuro, one of our jounin-members, chased after the captured Kazekage, who is his brother, and ended up getting poisoned," Baki explained gravely, making Ichigo rub the back of his head awkwardly, "We're trying everything within our power to come up with an antidote that'll save Kankuro's life, but all our attempts have been futile. Not even the honourable elder Lady Chiyo-sama can figure out how to counteract the poison within Kankuro's system. Our only hope is to hope Lady Tsunade-sama, expert healer, has sent a possible apprentice who has all of her skills, and will be able to neutralize the poison in time by making an antidote that can save Kankuro's life."

"That's kind of optimistic, is it not?"

"It's the only chance we've got of keeping Kankuro alive, Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo sucked his teeth in annoyance. He hadn't shown that for a while. These years of being an immortal have obviously taken its toll on Ichigo, maturing him as he observed the world re-build itself after the catastrophic chaos that occurred centuries ago, all caused by the legendary creature that was just that now: A legend. Ichigo doubted that anyone even remembered about the man whom rescued the world from the Godlike beast who destroyed it and then proceeded to literally start rebuilding the world in its own glorious image.

"Good luck Baki-san…" The wise strawberry warrior started calmly, turning his back on Baki, "I believe you're going to need it." The sound of Ichigo's footsteps echoing through the air let Baki know the immortal man was walking away.

"Where are you going Kurosaki-san?" Baki called after the retreating form of Ichigo.

"I'm gonna get something to eat." Ichigo didn't mince his words as he strode farther away from Baki.

"What a strange civilian…"

xXx

(Later That Night)

xXx

After Ichigo had filled his belly with food that he paid for with money he earned by collecting bounties of any bandits he caught as to not draw too much suspicious to himself, (something he'd learned was a bad idea in the world of the ninja), he vanished from sight and reappeared on top of the village's walls, overlooking the desert as the cold breeze blew the bangs of his hair, messing it up with grains of sand. He could see the destruction all through the entrance of the Hidden sand village. Rocks upon rocks were piled up on top of each other as big holes were blown into the sides.

Whoever had kidnapped the Kazekage obviously wasn't an amateur. The person had obviously planned out his/her infiltration into the sand village and inevitable battle with the leader of the village to capture him. If the bastard or bitch, or maybe two, hadn't taken the kazekage, the immortal-man may've even called he/she or them a genius or geniuses.

His old-self would've jumped at the chance to attempt to rescue the Kazekage no questions asked. But no matter how much he wanted to help, he wasn't arrogant enough now to believe he could help everyone whenever he wanted to. Years of contemplation through meditation had changed Ichigo for better or for worst.

Sitting-leg crossed on the humongous stone-like-stairs-mountain that was the massive walls separating the village from the outside world, Ichigo begin to focus his spirit energy, which was his yin chakra, around his body. A concept his learned from the man whom prevented the world from being ruled by the kami-like beast that inexplicably appeared.

It certainly made fighting a lot easier for Ichigo, who discovered he could summon up his Zanpakuto in base human form, not that he needed it anymore.

Only when an exponential shinobi comes across him does Ichigo even call upon his powerful Zanpakuto.

He'd mastered a few jutsus to add to his arsenal and even discovered his element nature over the hundreds of years he'd to develop his techniques and strengthen his lightening nature. He'd become one of the most skilled warriors there ever had been. Although, for the last fifty years he left the world and stayed afloat over a volcano where he just hovered and meditated for years, only boredom pulled him from his slumber.

"I wonder… should I assist them?"

xXx

(Hidden Sand Village – Hospital)

xXx

"Oh dear… Sasori's really out done himself this time." An old lady said dejectedly, holding a chart in her hands while a sleeveless brown spiky-haired boy lay on a bed, thrashing around in agonizing pain. "Not even I can counteract this complex poison."

Baki stood next to Chiyo while the medical ninjas gave the pained boy some pain-killers to sooth his pains somewhat. "So there's nothing we can do to save Kankuro's life?"

Chiyo looked at him, "Well we could always send for that slug-bitch Tsunade. That cursed woman always had an antidote in the third great ninja war for every poison I made and threw at her."

"Lady Chiyo-sama!" Baki berated her lightly, "Lady Tsunade-sama's the hokage now. She can't just up and abandon her village like that!"

"I know, I know." Chiyo replied heatedly, "I wouldn't want that bitch around me anyways even if it were possible to bring her down here in time. I'm afraid Kankuro's as good as dead."

Baki scowled slightly as he looked at the heavily breathing Kankuro lying down on the bed. 'First Gaara gets taken away, and now Kankuro gets poisoned… it's like I told Kurosaki-san earlier, all we can do is hope for the best.'

xXx

(The Next Day)

xXx

"Goddamn it!"

Naruto's voice echoed outside in the mazy gust of wind obstructing the views of him, Sakura, Temari, and Kakashi from the safety of a small cave Temari led them to thankfully.

"We were almost there." Naruto whined.

"Don't worry, Naruto-san, the sandstorms don't last long around these parts. Trust me." Temari smiled. The girl had an optimistic feeling in the pit of her stomach that they'd make it to the village before heading out again to rescue her kid brother.

"But Gaara's in trouble… every second counts…" Naruto soaked.

Sakura ignored the soaking blond boy in favour of addressing Temari, "I guess it'd make sense with you knowing how these parts work around here, seeing as you've lived here your whole life."

Temari nodded as she and Sakura sat on their knees with the usual laid-back Kakashi resting against the wall of the cave with one-leg curled up to his chest and the other one outstretched. Naruto was on one knee as he looked out of the cave with a scowl on his face.

"Yes. Navigation is everything within these parts of the desert. Most sand ninja that are Chunin-ranked and above can at the very least do that much." The blond haired jounin informed.

"Whoa. It was a good thing we picked you up on the way then." Sakura said with a bright smile on her face.

Temari giggled slightly, but her thoughts were elsewhere at this current moment. 'Gaara… I'm sorry I wasn't there for you otouto-sama.'

xXx

(With Ichigo)

xXx

The orange haired immortal's eyes cracked open slightly, staring at the sand-storm raging on before his eyes nonchalantly, "This must be the Konoha bunch Baki-san were talking about." Unflinchingly, Ichigo rose from his spot and held his bag coolly over one shoulder, "The least I could do is make sure the medical ninja gets to Kankuro-san on time."

After all, there was no way in hell those Konoha-shinobi were going anywhere with this hurricane-like-sand-storm currently going on. Ichigo could sense them, so he knew they were staying still. Unfortunately, with Kankuro in such a severe condition, every second was crucial to his survival.

Without saying anything else Ichigo vanished from sight using the shunpo-technique taught to him by his old mentor Yoruichi.

xXx

(The Cave)

xXx

Kakashi looked up idly, noticing the sudden shift in nature as if a second tornado had rocked the sand storm. The one genin, chunin, and jounin noticed or rather heard Kakashi's thoughtful hum but before anyone of them could question the masked-man on what he'd saw, they were all startled by a sudden black blur mixed with orange that appeared. "Yanks!" Naruto squawked as a tall orange haired man stood casually while holding an old bag over his shoulder with a strange sword resting underneath his sash.

"Yo."

"Yo yourself." Kakashi regurgitated Ichigo's line as he along with Naruto, Sakura, and Temari each stood up abruptly, and set themselves in stances, prepared to face this enigma whom literally appeared from out of nowhere mysteriously, "How'd you find us here? More Importantly, how'd you move so fast?"

"Yay, how'd you do that? Are you a member of those akatsuki bastards who took Gaara?" The blond retard yelled indignantly, "I'll kill ya if ya did!"

Ichigo looked at Naruto with a smirk on his face. "You're about a hundred years too early to be a challenge for me kiddo."

"WHAT!?" Naruto recoiled goofily, "Who do ya think ya are? I'll have ya know I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the number one knuckleheaded ninja and future hokage of Konoha! Don't underestimate me!"

Ichigo let out a dark chuckle that'd Naruto fuming. The blond would've attacked him if Kakashi's hand hadn't landed on his shoulder, making him settle down and look at Kakashi's serious face that didn't leave Ichigo's for a second despite the fact that he addressed Naruto, "Don't lose your cool Naruto. He's probably hoping you'd react like this so he could take you down." Kakashi scrutinized Ichigo's appearance with his only visible eye narrowed intently, 'He doesn't even have a headband on, but yet he was able to appear so swiftly before us. Is he a member of the akatsuki? No. If that were the case he'd at least be wearing the black and red robes of the akatsuki. Maybe he's a ninja for hire bought by the akatsuki to stall us. Hmm.'

Naruto gritted his teeth as he stared at Ichigo's grinning face. "Okay, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi nodded as he addressed Ichigo, "So what have you come here for, huh? To hold us up while the akatsuki flee with Gaara-san?"

Ichigo's grin dropped suddenly as he scratched the back of his head absentmindedly, "It's quite the opposite actually." This surprised the three Konoha shinobi and the one sand jounin.

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked cautiously, not dropping her guard for a second around this possible foe who seemed to radiate with confidence as he looked at them all without any hint of fear in his eyes, 'Is this guy that powerful? It's four against one, yet he doesn't even seem fazed in the least… what is his game?'

Ichigo looked at Sakura, not really surprised to see someone with pink hair, because after all he'd thought someone with blue hair of all the colours. So pink wasn't too odd to see. "I was informed by Baki-san that someone by the name of Kankuro has been seriously poisoned, and is in dire need of medical treatment."

Temari's eyes widened as she stepped forward and placed her two hands on Ichigo's shoulders, shaking him wildly, "Kankuro! Are you serious? Please tell me you're joking about that? I can't lose another brother, I just can't!" She bellowed, making Ichigo look at her with wide eyes blinking comically.

When was the last time someone had grabbed him like that?

Not since Rukia died.

"I'm sorry, but that's how it is." The immortal orange haired man stated honestly, making Temari gasp as she let go of Ichigo and took a step back. "Kankuro-san's life is in serious danger. If one of you can't come with up an antidote in roughly twenty minutes or so, he will perish."

"Well how the hell do you expect us to come up with an antidote to save his life?" Naruto questioned exasperatedly, waving his arms around.

"I've been trained under the Godaime Hokage Lady Tsunade-sama, expertise in healing. I should be able to counter the poison by coming up with an antidote to assure that Kankuro-san lives." Sakura assured.

Kakashi looked at her, "Sakura, don't let your guard down so easily. For all we know this man could be a member of the akatsuki trying to slow us down or halt our progress all together!" Kakashi commented enormity, making Temari gasp as she glared angrily at Ichigo, which done nothing to faze the powerful entity as he returned it with an apathetical one of his own.

"You better not be lying to us…How can my brother be in a serious condition!?" Temari shouted at Ichigo as she swung her fan at him which made Ichigo raise his arm up to block it effortlessly; much to her and Sakura's utter amazement. 'He blocked my fan without even trying…' A crack sound reverberated through the cave, making Temari look to see that her fan had a small crack on it. "What?!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I say we whoop his ass for lying to us! He's probably just a no good akatsuki scum anyway!" Naruto accused as Sakura and Kakashi stared wide-eyed at the powerful stranger that cracked Temari's fan with nothing but his arm.

Ichigo was beginning to get pissed. "Listen to me damn it!" He growled loudly, making them wheeze as they hadn't expected someone as calm as him to lose his temper, "Kankuro-san'll die if you little-miss pinkie don't get your cute little ass over to the goddamned hospital this minute!"

Sakura recoiled slightly, "Y-You pervert!"

"So you finally showed your true colours, eh?" Kakashi asked smugly.

"Goddamn it!" Ichigo growled before setting his sights hard on Sakura, "Ya' know what… you'll all thank me for this later." Blindingly, Sakura was thrown over ichigo's left shoulder before anyone could even react to the orange haired man's speed.

"Such speed…" Kakashi awed as he watched Ichigo hold Sakura over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing.

"Put me down this instance you pervert!" Sakura demanded as she punched Ichigo's back.

"You better drop Sakura now, Ginger," Naruto yelled as he went to lash out at Ichigo but froze when the orange haired man gave him a murderous glare that made cold sweat run down his cheek.

Why couldn't people stop dissing the colour of his hair?

"I'll see ya' all at the hospital! That's where your teammate will be!" Ichigo growled vehemently, vanishing from sight before Kakashi even had a chance to intercept him so he could get Sakura off of Ichigo's shoulder.

"Sakura! Damn! We lost her!" Kakashi cursed.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered dejectedly.

Temari inhaled and exhaled heavily, looking at her now damaged fan after attacking Ichigo, "Who exactly was that guy? I couldn't even see him move let alone have a chance of stopping him from taking Sakura-san to whatever he took her."

"We gotta get Sakura-chan back!" Naruto ran towards the exit but Kakashi quickly speared him to the ground and pinned him down immensely, "Get off of me! That guy might hurt Sakura-chan Kakashi-sensei!"

"I know that Naruto! You think I'm not concerned for her safety as well!" Kakashi growled, making Naruto stop thrashing from underneath him to look at him, "We'll just have to hope that that man was telling the truth and that Kankuro really is poisoned, otherwise I don't know how we'll be able to locate Sakura."

Temari nodded sadly, looking into the raging sand-storm that Ichigo inexplicably blurred through with Sakura on his shoulder, 'Could it really be true. Could you really be on the verge of death like that strange man said… Kankuro.' All they could do was wait until the sand-storm passed through so they could continue on their way to see for themselves.

Ichigo had thrown a wrench in the works.

xXx

(The Hospital)

xXx

"Owwwww!"

The wails of excruciating pain from Kankuro echoed throughout the small room of the hospital as he tussled and turned in a bid to free himself from the burning pain eating away at his insides. A horrible death for any ninja to have to bare.

"Oh dear, his condition's worsening." Chiyo bemoaned.

"Damn it! Where are those Konoha ninja?" Baki roared. "It makes it even worst with the sand-storm going on now of all the times… does kami really not want Kankuro to stay in this world?"

"Yo, Baki-san." A voice spoke coolly from the direction of the door, making everyone stop what they were doing to turn towards the door to see Ichigo standing there with a shouting girl held over his shoulder, "Look who I brought along to the party."

His choice of words actually made Sakura stop assaulting his back to think what he'd meant by those words, 'Party? What party? Could he have actually been telling the truth?'

"Kurosaki-san?" Baki wondered in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Good question." Ichigo trolled before looking at Kankuro, "You said Konoha might've sent a squad with a medical ninja trained by that Tsunade-lady, right?" Baki nodded and Ichigo unintentionally patted Sakura's ass, making her flinch, "Well this is her. Her squad's still out in the sandstorm though, but I imagine they'll be here eventually," Ichigo grinned.

Baki was left blinking at Ichigo, 'How? He said he was just a wanderer? How'd he manage to get in and out of the village within two swift instantaneous movements?' Not that he was complaining. At least Kankuro had a chance to survive now.

Chiyo pointed at Ichigo, "Who are you boy, and where'd you come from? I don't see a headband on you, so you must be a rouge ninja otherwise you'd be assigned to a hidden village." That made a gasp escape Sakura's lips as she hadn't thought about that when Ichigo suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of her and her team.

Ichigo smiled lightly, "I'm just a passing wanderer granny," Chiyo narrowed her eyes as Ichigo put Sakura down on her feet. No wanderer could appear out of thin air like that. Ichigo turned Sakura around and placed his hands on her shoulders, "This young lady's volunteered to fix Kankuro right up."

Chiyo looked at Sakura strangely while the pink haired kuroichi looked at the troubled Kankuro from where she was standing beside Ichigo, 'So he was telling the truth.' Sakura looked at Ichigo, "T-Thank you… um.-"

"Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Sakura Haruno." Sakura introduced herself before she one-bombed Ichigo in the stomach, doubling him over.

"What the hell, you crazy hag! What the hell was that for?!" Ichigo asked belligerently, not even Rukia could hit him _that _hard a million years ago, but even still… 'She's just like Rukia.'

Sakura's eyes twitched as she grabbed Ichigo by the collar and brought him close to her face. "Well I appreciate you bringing me here to do my job… _Ichigo_, I don't appreciate the fact that you felt my backside!"

Ichigo had the decency to blush at his stupid mistake, "Woops, my bad." Or was it a mistake?

Sakura pouted as she dropped Ichigo to the ground and marched over to where Kankuro was, "The nerve of that guy, touching a lady like that!" Sakura mumbled to herself while Baki and Chiyo watched the interaction like each had grown second heads.

Shaking off her stupor, Chiyo addressed Sakura who was taking off her gloves and tying her hair up in a pony-tail, "So you're really the slug princess Tsunade's student eh? Like that foolish man over there said." She pointed at Ichigo who was sitting leg-crossed on the ground watching Sakura get to work nonchalantly.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Ichigo, "He's an idiot alright. But he was right though, I am the Godaime hokage's student: Sakura Haruno at your service. I'll do my best to save Kankuro's life!" Chiyo just nodded her head. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested in seeing the slug-princess's student in action first hand. Part of her expected for her to fail, but with no one else capable of figuring out an antidote to keep Kankuro alive, it was now left in her hands to assure that Kankuro lived.


	2. A Reminder of That Special Someone

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto. Tite Kubo owns Bleach and his brethren Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter Two: A Reminder of That Special Someone**

Old habits die hard.

Whoever made that old saying up would not want to meet the immortal orange haired man Ichigo Kurosaki, because said immortal was currently reliving his scowling adolescent days around the pink haired kuroichi as she ordered him to hand her the equipment she needed to begin the extraction process of the main poison within Kankuro's system.

Man Ichigo swore he'd find the son-of-a-bitch who said old habits die hard and kick him in the guts.

Most likely because it was in all actuality, true.

Even as the wanderer refused to do what she requested of him to do, which was for him to hand her a bucket of special liquid that looked like green water the medical ninja kindly volunteered to do for her, but she wasn't having none of it. And instead she matched over to the powerful shinigami and grabbed him by the ear, twisting it around and putting him in excruciating pain for his rudeness to her.

"You're the one who basically kidnapped me away from my team, so you're the one who's going to help me restore Kankuro back to full health!" That was her command from around twenty minutes ago, which really struck a chord in Ichigo as he sucked his teeth to show his annoyance.

The medical ninja of Sunagakure and even Chiyo were rather impressed to say the least by Sakura's skills, not only did she handle the seemingly 'no skilled' wanderer sensibly, she was also able to figure out that they were dealing with a heavy metal-based toxin. Sakura had figured out it was the kind of poison that attacked one's muscle tussle, destroying the cells' integrity, and she learned all that with only one brief examination of Kankuro's heartbeat.

She then proceeded to expertly, (but painstakingly), extract huge portions of the poison Sasori had inflicted on him with the strange green liquid she made Ichigo pour out for her. It wasn't a delicate task by any means of the imagination as Sakura had Ichigo hold down Kankuro, and was left a tad irritated when Ichigo placed a lazy index finger on Kankuro's stomach.

Chiyo, her brother Ebizo, and along with the other medical ninja wondered what the enigma was getting at by placing his finger on Kankuro's chest. Did he actually believe Kankuro was weak enough that he could hold him down with a mere finger? Or was he just trying to troll the pink haired kuroichi by acting like an idiot to annoy her?

In any case time was of the essence with Kankuro's life hanging in the balance. They each tried to approach Kankuro to assist Sakura seeing as it looked like Ichigo weren't going to be of any help at all. But as soon as they took one step forward Ichigo's head slightly turned over his shoulder to send them all a glare with dark gleams in his eyes.

"I do believe Haruno-san asked me to help her. Don't interfere."

His words from earlier caused them to widen their eyes at how apathetical and cold the supposed wanderer's words sounded. A slight spike of the enigma's chakra let them know he wasn't joking around and that he was being deadly serious. His chakra felt like it was weighing down on their shoulders as their legs shook from the unbearable pressure of Ichigo's power, feeling their visions vibrate as if the earth itself was quaking from the powerful swordsman's chakra.

'Who is this man? Never in my life have I felt such a fierce chakra?' Chiyo thought with cold sweat running down her cheek.

'A wanderer? I think not. Something about him seems familiar to me though. I feel like I've met him before." Ebizo concluded as his pupiless eyes that looked like nothing but black holes watched Ichigo give Sakura a nod of his head, signifying he was good to go, and that he could keep Kankuro still with only his finger.

A scowl was on Sakura's face. She couldn't believe Ichigo's arrogance could be that big. Someone's life was on the line and he couldn't even be bothered to put forth the effort to restrain Kankuro while he goes through the excruciating pain of having the poison removed from his body.

She would just have to show him then.

Then the enigma would see that he could not pin down Kankuro with only a mere finger.

As Sakura dipped her hand into the green substance after flashing through a series of hand-seals for her Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique), she brought her hand out of the liquid to Ichigo's curiosity that she was able to lift the liquid out of the bucket and around her hand as if it were a suit of armour. She flashed Ichigo a look and rolled her eyes in annoyance when she saw that Ichigo still wasn't taking it seriously.

This wasn't going to end well.

But as Sakura lowered her hand coated with the strange liquid around it into Kankuro's chest, expecting him to jolt up, and tussle to try and get her off of him, she was left in utter amazement to see that Kankuro could barely move his arms while screaming excruciatingly due to the process it took to drag the poison out of his body.

'No way… he's actually keeping Kankuro down with only a finger. Ichigo… you're not normal.' Sakura gaped as she brought her hand out of Kankuro's chest with chucks of purple floating in the green bubble around her hand.

"Is that the poison?" One of the medical gawked at Sakura's ability to find and remove the poison from Kankuro's system.

Sakura shook her head to shake off her stupor, looking at Ichigo with a firm gaze. 'There'll be plenty of times after this to figure you out Ichigo Kurosaki.' Ichigo didn't blink nor did he flinch from the pink haired girl's gaze, he only remained apathetical. "Get me another one Ichigo." She said commandingly, handing Ichigo the bucket after she poured the tainted liquid in it.

A simple nod came from the stoic wanderer as he removed his finger, revealing a slight pink mark on Kankuro's chest where he'd been pressing the puppet-master down. Sakura gulped while Kankuro sucked in as much air as he probably could.

'He did that… with one finger!' Sakura thought in debrief as she looked at Ichigo wide-eyed while he walked over to her with another bucket of green-goo in his hand after he'd placed the tainted one on the side. 'No wonder he didn't want to hold Kankuro down with both of his hands. He would've broken his shoulders, and flattened his bones like pancakes!' Sakura flinched when Ichigo put another bucket of goo by her side.

"As you requested," Ichigo growled.

"Right," Sakura said upon regaining her composure and Ichigo shrugged before lackadaisically placing his index finger on Kankuro's chest once again. Sakura spared the enigma a glance before dropping her hand into the bucket of medical goo and lifting it out with said goo around her hand. 'You're a strange one… Ichigo Kurosaki."

xXx

From just outside of the hospital room where Sakura was removing chucks of the poison out of Kankuro's body to insure that he lived another day, Chiyo along with Baki and Ebizo were trying to make heads or tails out of the mysterious backwards-wielding-wandering-swordsman. "I just can't divulge that man in there. He says he's a wanderer, yet he has enough power to at least rival a high jounin-ranked ninja." Chiyo murmured.

A hum came from Baki. "Yes I too wonder what Kurosaki-san is all about. When I first met him today, he said he wouldn't be able to assist us because he was only a wanderer and as such would be a liability to us, but here he is now having gone out of his way to dash out of the village, find the medical ninja Lady Tsunade-sama sent here, and bring her here all within a day, give or take."

Chiyo's eyes stared accusing at Ichigo at that. "Do you reckon he's an undercover agent in disguise? That power he displayed, it was so subtle and yet so, lethal, easily on the level of a jounin-ranked ninja as I've said."

"No sis, I believe this man is far more powerful than your ordinary ninja." Ebizo chimed in his judgement while the black holes he called eyes stared calmly at Ichigo, noticing the sluggish way his finger was pinned on Kankuro, "The way he holds down Kankuro-kun… as if one of our jounin-members is nothing but an ant to him."

Baki let out a shocked gasp, "I never thought about it that way. I'm a jounin-level shinobi and even I couldn't hold Kankuro down like that even when he was a simple genin… that obviously must take some real skill and power from Kurosaki-san to do so. It's hard to believe that he's a wanderer. He must at the very least have sannin rights from a village if he's that powerful."

Chiyo snarled, "Village or no village, he shouldn't be here anyway, if he's not a member of our village. The same can be said for that slug princess student's Sakura Haruno. This alliance we have with the leaf village will only bite us in the ass if we don't pull the plug and rely only on our own solders!"

"Calm down… sis." Chiyo's little brother Ebizo said with an aura of calmness around him while Baki just sighed. He knew Chiyo hated the leaf village ever since the white fang of the leaf, Sakumo Hatake, destroyed her son and her daughter-in-law, which was ironically Sasori of the red sand's parents, which was the main reason that drove Sasori into the darkness around about the time the sand village's beloved Sandaime kazekage mysteriously disappeared.

Losing loves one is never easy for any kid to bare.

Chiyo's eyes were suddenly filled with depression at the thought of her lost family member, 'In the end when all was said and done… I couldn't protect my family, I couldn't even prevent my grandson from wandering over to the evil side. And now's-.' Her line of thought trailed off when she noticed Ebizo and Baki's looks of concern. Thinking quickly, Chiyo laughed uproariously, "What's with the looks? You're making me laugh. Come on now, we should be plotting how to get rid of those brats in there and cut our alliance with the leaf, right?" Her brother gave her a stiff shake of the head, staring at his nee-chan (big sister) long and hard before looking back at Ichigo.

His sister was always good at masking her pain with laughter.

xXx

(Elsewhere – Location Unknown)

xXx

"Achoo."

A deep, gruffly, sneeze echoed from a strange hunch-back man of some sort as he walked on a narrow dirt road encompassed by tall trees on either sides of him. Up above the mechanical man was a feminine blond haired man whom was riding on a fairly huge paper-clay bird of some sort. If one looked closely at the end of its tail one would see a teenage boy of average height with red hair, a kanji for 'love' on the left side of his forehead, and a gourd on his back. His panda-like eyes were shut as his face looked like a cracked wall, literally!

"Bless you Sasori my man." The Cyclops said with a grin on his face as his left coal black eye which had a blue outline circling around it (same as his right one), was hidden underneath the long strand of his blond hair while he wore a long black robe with long sleeves, a few red clouds printed on the robe, black pants, and black toed-sandals.

A deep, (almost robotic) voice growled at the blond haired man, "Are you trying to make me mad, Deidara?" His own black cloak with red clouds covered his little hunch-back body as he'd a cloth that'd a little tear at the end of it covering his mouth and his hair looked spiky to boot.

Deidara's grin got wider, "Easy there partner. I was merely offering the proper courtesy so you wouldn't have too, hmm."

"I have no patient for such things, they would just slow me down and in return causes me to be late, and I hate to keep people waiting unless it's to cause them excruciating pain before I add them to my collection of _true _art." The unmerciful hunch-back man stated with venom in his voice.

A frown found its way to Deidara's face. "Hmm, seems someone doesn't know the work of a true artist such as myself, hmm."

Sasori looked up, a murderous gleam in his eye directed at Deidara. "And what would you know about true art? All you do is blow things up, that's not what true art is all about. True art starts off with finding the perfect lab-rat who'll _voluntarily _volunteer themselves, then I'll dissect the 'rats' while they are still breathing all so they can witness themselves dying a very painful death before I chuck out all of their… _engine parts, _and wash out their flawless bodies, all to keep them stashed away to be observed for all eternity. Now that is art."

"So sadistic my man…" Deidara exclaimed with amusement evident in his voice, receiving a scoff from Sasori, "Well I don't necessary agree with your description of art, the way you described the moulding of the art was fairly well done, hmm. I'd give it a B-plus if I were your sensei my man." In other words, he was fairly pleased with the way Sasori described killing his victims.

"And I suppose your definition of art is superior to mine… in your messed up head." Sasori bellowed.

Deidara grinned sadistically, "Well but of course my man. After all, what's the point of looking at boring old painting on the wall that'll be useless, pointless, and invaluable in the grand scheme of things when one could just-." Swiftly, Deidara's hand went into his pocket before he slammed his hands together, his left hand expended as if it were chewing something before Deidara pushed out his left arm and unleashed a clay bomb from his left hand that caused a resounding explosion once the clay touched three trees and eradicated them effortlessly, "-Blow it up! Because true_ art_ is an EXPLOSION!" Black smoke caused by the explosion rose up behind Deidara who was laughing victoriously, giving him a monstrous appearance.

Sasori let out a heavy sigh. He and Deidara would never agree on the concept of art. One wished to reserve his art after going through all the hard-work to dissect it, clean it out, and leave it hanging as a memento of sorts, a job well done after all the pleasurable work it took to find and to clean such grandiose lab-rats. While the other one liked to get straight to the point by outright blowing potential lab-rats to asunder.

Both were brutal sickening ways to destroy one's opponents nonetheless.

And both ways satisfied the two devilish members of the akatsuki as they each used one of those methods voluntarily.

Eventually Deidara and Sasori were forced to come to a stop momentarily as the road cut off, as if they'd come to the top of a mountain. Without saying anything, Sasori simply fell off of the cliff and let gravity do the work while Deidara piloted his bird to fly down to his partner just as Sasori touched down on the water, with an aura of blue now surrounding his feet which was concealed by his comprehensive cloak covering his body.

"At last…" Sasori groaned, looking at the other side of the cliff he fell off of to see an enormous boulder with a paper tag on it. If one looked closer they would've noticed the word 'seal' on the tag. Clearly these akatsuki thought things out. "We've kept the others waiting for too long. It's time to get this over with."

"Yes, my man. I concur. The extraction of the Ichibi no tanuki (one-tailed raccoon dog) should begin immediately, hmm."

xXx

(Konohagakure no Sato – Hokage's mansion)

xXx

A busty woman whose breasts were definite I-cup stared out of the window from her small office with a mountain of paperwork to get through. She'd blond hair tied in two pig-tails, brown eyes, and a diamond-shaped symbol placed upon her forehead. She wore a green jacket with a kanji for 'gamble' on the back of her jacket, a grey V-neck blouse that showed off her cleavage held closed by a blue obi, blue trousers, and black toed-high heels.

"I hope they can make it in time." She said to herself in deep thought as she clenched her right fist. "Me winning-." she opened her right fist to reveal a crumpled up lottery ticket that'd three sevens all unscratched: meaning winner. "-Is never a good sign."

The door to her small office opened up, "Lady Tsunade-sama." A woman of slender-height with short black hair that reached her shoulders walked through the door of the office wearing a black kimono dress, held closed by a white obi, and black toed-high heels, "I have dispatched a message out to the hidden sand village to let Team Kakashi know you've sent Team Gai out to assist them."

Tsunade turned to her assistance and student, "Thank you Shizune. I have a bad feeling they'll need all the help they can get." Tsunade looked at her winning lottery ticket thoughtfully, knowing she usually never wins unless it was a bad omen telling her things were about to go haywire and to a dangerous level too.

The Legendary sucker winning was never a good sign.

xXx

(Sunagakure no Sato)

xXx

Sakura let out a rather pleased sigh as the last batch of main poison was taken out of Kankuro's system and put to the side by Ichigo. "There. I've removed most of the poison within his system. That should put him out of any immediate danger." Sighs of relief came from Baki and the other medical ninjas while Ichigo just gave Sakura an impressed smirk. "However, he's not out of the woods as of yet."

Ichigo looked at her, "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm saying there's still poison within Kankuro. I need to come up with an antidote that'll kill off the remaining poison within Kankuro." She turned her attention to the medical ninja in the room. "I'll need a list of the medicinal herbs that can be found in this village, or something like that…"

"I am on it Haruno-san." The medical ninja obeyed Sakura's command as he hurried off to get her the list of herbs she would need to make an antidote to heal Kankuro completely.

"Please bandage Kankuro-san up now." Sakura said commandingly, making another medical ninja nod before he too hurried to the shelf to pick up some bandages before hurrying back to Kankuro to do as asked of him by Sakura.

"And then prepare an IV drip." Another nod came from the medical ninja as Sakura remained calm and in control like a true boss lady, "Also, please set aside a small amount of the extracted toxin. I will need it later." After all whom was to say that they wouldn't come across a similar poison to this one used on Kankuro. It was best to study it so they could prepare themselves accordingly. Plus, she'd need something to test the antidote on to insure that the antidote worked when she got around to making it.

Ichigo watched Sakura dish out her orders level-headedly with something of a realization in his aged eyes, 'Rukia? Is… that you old friend.' A resemblance of a small black haired, light-skinned, purple-eyed lady wearing a black shihakusho appeared as an illusion of sorts over Sakura, as if the pink haired girl was her reincarnation. This made Ichigo smile a bit. 'Even in death… I still can't get away from you. Can I? You little midget…'

Sakura untied her hair and took off her red-headband before giving her hair a good shake by wobbling her head a bit.

"You definitely are the old slug queen Tsunade's student." Chiyo mumbled as she approached Sakura.

Sakura smiled blessedly, "I did say that Lady Tsunade-sama is my teacher after all. I'm still not as good as her though, but I'd like to think I'm improving every single day." Chiyo gave her a nod at that. "She did ask me personally that I come down here though."

"I find it rather strange that wandering swordsman could bring you in the village while the sandstorm was raging on." Chiyo said, making Sakura look at Ichigo who looked away from her grumpily while holding his sack-bag over his shoulder.

"What?" Ichigo questioned grumpily.

"Don't give me that tone. You know what!" Sakura accused as she pointed at Ichigo.

Ichigo felt a vein popping out of his head, "Hrughh. All I did was take ya ass away from those ninja-guys so you could heal Kankuro-san. It isn't too complicated to figure out for someone as smart as you."

Sakura scowled while Chiyo looked at Ichigo suspiciously, "So what Haruno-san said earlier was true. You did abduct her from her team to bring her here."

"…Pretty much." Ichigo admitted with a shameless shrug of his shoulders.

Sakura marched over to Ichigo and hooked her arm around his, much to his confusion and then annoyance, "And that's why Ichigo's helping me whether he likes it or not."

"You can't tell me what to do, damn it!" Ichigo growled exasperatedly.

"And you can't just go around taking random ninjas from their squads whatever you feel like it mister 'I'm all speedy, so I can do whatever I want!' Hmph!" Sakura shot back just as frustrated if not more so than Ichigo, making Ichigo suck his teeth while she 'hmphed' cutely.

"Tch… you're a troublesome woman."

"What was that Ichigo?"

"Oh nothing… I was just talking about the weather."

Chiyo looked at Ichigo strangely, 'What kind of man is he? It's like he'd been living as a different person for years, but one girl has triggered the real 'him' to come out from underneath the rock… just what exactly is this enigma.'

Sakura let go of Ichigo's arm to retie her red headband over her pink hair, not noticing Ichigo narrow his eyes at the insignia on her headband for a split second, something Chiyo didn't miss at all as the sand medical ninja walked over to Sakura with a list of herbs she could find in the village.

"Thank you." Sakura thanked the medical ninja before turning to look at Ichigo with a sickening sweet smile on her features, "Come on Ichigo, we've got herbs to pick and mix together."

"Yes your highness," Ichigo groused sarcastically before Sakura harshly yanked her arm around Ichigo's, making the immortal one stumble downwards slightly, "You just had to do that eh. You couldn't have done it the normal way, no, you'd to be extra." Ichigo grunted.

"Quit your complaining and use that speed jutsu or whatever you call it to get us here." She pointed to the place they needed to go on the list before sighing as she noticed Ichigo's blank stare. "You know, the move you used to get me here and away from my teammates." Sakura put her free hand on her hip.

Ichigo scratched his head with his thumb sheepishly, "Oh you mean that move. Well that's not a speed jutsu, more like a speed maneuver." Sakura gave Ichigo a puzzled look. "Shall we get going then?"

Sakura blinked a couple of times, "Yeah, of course Ichigo. But let's wait for a medical ninja first so we have someone who knows where everything is for our use." Ichigo let out a grunt and nodded his head languidly. 'Strange. If that move wasn't a jutsu, then what was it then?' Sakura attempted to divulge Ichigo's speed technique. 'Ichigo… you're full of mystery.'

"Ah, are you ready to pick up the herbs now?" A medical ninja asked as he walked over to Sakura and Ichigo.

"Yes. Just grab my shoulder, and I'll have us there in a minute." Ichigo said coolly, getting the medical ninja to nod as he touched Ichigo's shoulder, thinking the enigma might use a jutsu to get them where they needed to be. Sakura watched Ichigo intently, trying to work out how he would get them from one location to the other without making hand-signs, "… And we're off." Ichigo sighed as he shunpo'd out of existence with Sakura and the medical ninja by his sides.

"How in the world did he do that without the use of hand-signs?" Chiyo questioned her brother as they both witnessed Sakura and Ichigo interact before the latter disappeared with Sakura and the medical ninja in tow, "He surely must use some sort of jutsu to vanish like that and so swiftly."

Ebizo hummed, "I'm afraid I don't have the answers to those questions sis. And I honestly don't see how we'll be able to get the answers out of him if he isn't willing to cough them up."

"Kurosaki-san is a strange one." Baki chimed in from where he was standing next to a freshly bandaged Kankuro. He still looked worse for wear, but at least he was somewhat breathing a little more stable now, "I only told him about the possibility that Lady Tsunade-sama may've sent a medical ninja to assist us only yesterday, and he was able to somehow sense where they were to bring Haruno-san to us."

Chiyo bit her bottom lip, "So what? Do you assume that he's a sensory type ninja?"

Ebizo shook his head calmly, "No sis. I don't think Kurosaki-san's a sensory type ninja. Sensory type ninjas wouldn't be that fast. It's unheard of that people whom can sense things are able to be that quick."

"Lord Baki-sama, Kankuro has regained consciousness." A medical ninja broke the three from their musings of the enigma as they turned around to see that Kankuro whom had opened his eyes a bit was struggling to sit up.

"Kankuro, it's good to see you up. Try to not move or you'll hurt yourself." Baki suggested.

Kankuro held his chest where Ichigo had been pinning him down lackadaisically, "H-Hey… Baki-sensei, the bastard took otouto-sama away." He more or less strained out as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Baki nodded sadly, 'That orange haired guy… held me down with a mere finger.'

Kankuro was brought out of his thoughts by Ebizo and Chiyo who strolled over to him with serious looks on their features, "It's relieving to see you up, Kankuro-san. But there's something that we need confirmed, and only you can confirm it." Ebizo explained.

"Lady Chiyo-sama, Lord-Ebizo-sama… I'll try and answer whatever you want me to answer." The injured youth assured.

"Am I correct in thinking the one you fought was Sasori of the red sand?" The elderly woman inquired.

Kankuro could only sadly nod his head in confirmation. "Yes… He told me so himself."

Chiyo snarled, "Sasori… you've gotten yourself mixed up with a dangerous organization." The elderly woman knew as much as it would pain her to, she would've to take care of her grandson Sasori personally.

Blood be damned.

"More importantly," Kankuro continued painstakingly, "Where are the other Konoha ninja. I expected to at least see them with the one who healed me. And Temari-neechan… where's she?"

"Temari hasn't come back from her last mission to Konoha. And the only reason Haruno-san is here when her teammates are not is because Kurosaki-san brought her here so she could personally heal you." Baki explained. Kankuro's eyes widened as he let out a gasp that caused pain to surge throughout his body, "Be careful Kankuro. You're not fully healed as yet." He finished commandingly, watching carefully while one of the medical ninjas gave Kankuro some painkillers to ease his pain.

"It kind of makes sense that he could've such a speed jutsu-."

"No, it's not a jutsu Kankuro-san. That's according to Kurosaki-san anyway. He informed Sakura that the move he performed to get her here is something else entirely," Ebizo explained, cutting off Kankuro and making the wounded puppet master widen his eyes yet again.

"I see." Kankuro closed his eyes and rested himself down on his bed.

"Were you going to say something about that enigma holding you down with a mere finger?" Chiyo asked rhetorically.

Kankuro made a gesture with his hand to confirm Chiyo's question. "Yes, I felt… like he was using his very chakra as a rock-solid blanket to keep me from moving around. Only lighter… his energy felt lighter while his finger bruised my skin like he'd punched me." Kankuro removed his hand from his chest and pointed at the spots where Ichigo had held him down with only his index finger. "There. There. There. And there…" Unfortunately they couldn't see the pink bruises on Kankuro's body due to the bandages covering his body, but they didn't need to.

"I know. I saw your bruises before your body was covered up," Baki informed before cupping his chin with his thumb and index finger, "Just what kind of strength does Kurosaki-san have? He could've quite easily crushed Kankuro's arms like butter if he wanted to. Does this mean he's on our side?" Chiyo scoffed at that.

Choosing to ignore his frowning sister, Ebizo spoke up, "In any case the rescue of the kazekage must be succeeded at all costs. The village can't go on without a leader."

That made Kankuro sit up again, "My puppets, where are they? I can assume they were retrieved right?"

xXx

(Garden's house)

xXx

After shunpo-ing (flash-stepping) them to the garden house Sakura immediately began to mix and grind several herbs with the help of the medical ninja that'd come along with them. Sakura would've fell down if she didn't have a firm grip on Ichigo's arm after the orange haired immortal shunpo'd them to the garden house. She had to admit that was one dizzying ride.

"How come you're not helping?" Sakura asked the immortal belligerently, seeing him idly standing in the corner with his bag strapped horizontally over his chest so he could cross his arms over his chest coolly, "Hey, are you even listening to me?!"

Ichigo cracked an eye open, "Hey, you said to bring you here and I did. I don't see what the problem is."

"The problem is you're supposed to be helping me do this, Ichigo!" Sakura pouted as she continued to stir multiple herbs in a bowl with a fork.

Ichigo looked at the ceiling nonchalantly, "Tch. Listen, I'm not a gardener, I'm a wanderer. I wander around the elemental nations looking for anything to pass the time. Don't blame me if you can't do this by yourself."

"Lazy bum…" Sakura muttered with a twitching eyebrow, receiving a shrug of the shoulders from Ichigo.

The medical ninja beside her sweat-dropped at the two as he decided to steer the conversation onto another topic, "So I hope this is alright for the antidote you want to make Sakura-san. We can't make much because we don't grow enough scurvy grass around these parts."

"That's okay; it's enough to make three samples of antidote actually. That should be enough for this mission." Sakura smiled. She didn't want to take advantage of the sand village's hospitality even if she was single-handedly assuring that one of their elites lived through the deadly poison that would've rotted his muscles from the inside out if she hadn't come along.

"It's good to see that you think ahead." Ichigo smirked as he kept his eyes shut in deep thought.

"Of course I do. I'm a ninja after all." Sakura commented, taking great notice of the smirk on Ichigo's face, 'That smirk… He's like Sasuke-kun.' In a way, except Ichigo didn't look like the type of man to betray his friends or comrades. Sakura became depressed at the thought of her crush Sasuke Uchiha. 'I can't think about him now. After this is all said and done Naruto and I can recover our lost teammate.' Shaking off that thought Sakura went back to work making three antidotes.

Ichigo, however, did not noticed Sakura's sudden shift in personality as he kept his eyes closed and let his senses spread far out for a hint for where Gaara could be. During his fifty year meditation Ichigo honed his sensing skill to near perfect level, keeping tabs on the strong ones of the world, or more importantly, the bijuus and their jinchuurikis. 'The only logical reason I can think of for why Gaara-san was taken away by the akatsuki is because he'd a bijuu inside of him.' Ichigo surmised, feeling the weakest part of the godlike creature that had recreated the world slowly but surely being pulled from inside of someone while said person's life slipped away from him excruciatingly, "That must be him."

His murmur made Sakura and the medical ninja stop what they were doing to look at him questionably, "That must be who Ichigo? What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

Ichigo reopened his eyes before turning his head to look at the medical ninja to answer Sakura's question with one of his own directed at the medical ninja, "Your kazekage, Gaara. By any chance was he the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no tanuki?"

Medical ninja's eyes widened while he let out a gasp, "How'd you know that?"

Ichigo smirked, "Well you could say I'm a lot more seasoned than I look."

Sakura tilted her head to the side confusedly, "More seasoned? But you don't look any older than twenty. That's still pretty young if you ask me."

"You're right about my facial features, Haruno-san. I do look younger than I am." That was the understatement of the semester. "But as far as my actual age goes, I'm afraid you'll never guess it."

Sakura frowned, "It can't be too hard to figure out. Let me guess, you're twenty two." Ichigo shook his head in the negative, "Twenty four?" Another shake of the head came from Ichigo, "Thirty?" Once again Ichigo shook his head and Sakura became exasperated, "Ahhh! You and your riddles are too hard to figure out!"

Ichigo chuckled, "Maybe next time you'll get it." Sakura glared at Ichigo's cocky grin before the enigma dropped it in exchange for narrowed eyes and a serious expression, "The extraction process of Gaara's bijuu has begun."

Sakura and the medical ninja gasped hugely at the clarification from the immortal one. "What are you saying? That Lord Kazekage-sama is starting to die?"

"Precisely," Was Ichigo's simple reply.

"Damn it…" The medical ninja cursed.

"We're going to have to hurry up," Sakura assured determinedly, looking out of the window, 'Hurry it up you guys. I'm not sure how long Gaara-san's got to live. We need to hurry if want to save him.'

Time was running out for Gaara.

xXx

(With the remaining members of Team Kakashi and Temari)

xXx

"We gotta save Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled.

The sandstorm had ceased two hours ago and now the trio of Kakashi, Naruto, Temari were running full speed towards Sunagakure no Sato, hoping that they would run into the pink haired kuroichi who got abducted by the speedy enigma right in the middle of the sandstorm for whatever reason they didn't know.

"Let's just hope everything's in order when we get to Sunagakure!" Kakashi barked.

'Kankuro… you better be alive when I enter the hospital. Otherwise I reach into the blazing flames of hell themselves, and drag your ass back myself If I have to!' Temari thought reassuringly to herself, a burning fire in her eyes as she kept pace with the two roadrunners in Naruto and Kakashi. "We're almost there!"

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, "The first thing I'm gonna do is find the bastard who kidnapped Sakura-chan and shove my foot up his ass, all the way up his ass!" Something of a goofy smirk formed on Naruto's whiskered-features, "He won't even know what hit him, dattebayo!"

Kakashi let out a sigh of exasperation, "Easy, Naruto, let's just worry about getting to the sand village before we make any hasty attacks on certain enigmas."

Naruto huffed indignantly, "Don't spoil my fun Kakashi-sensei! I'll do it myself if you don't want to, then I'll march out to the akatsuki's hideout, shove my brand new killer jutsu through the fucking doorway, make some kage bunshins (shadow clones), have them form a few Rasengans, and then me and my kage bunshins will shove those Rasengans down their throats before I take Gaara back. Easy!" Naruto laughed victoriously, "My plan can't fail! It's steel-proof."

"Okay, but do you even know where the akatsuki's hideout is?" Kakashi deadpanned and Naruto recoiled before he quickly regained his composure and carried on sprinting towards the village, "You're getting ahead of yourself Naruto. Like I said let's just make it to the village and then we'll form a plan depending on whether Sakura is there or not."

Naruto pouted childishly, making Temari sigh irritably, 'And he's seriously supposed to be 'our saviour'?' Rhetorical question aside, Temari saw the huge walls of Sunagakure in sight after two hours of nonstop running, "There it is!"

"Dattebayo!" Outrageously, Naruto stepped it up and blasted his way towards the sand village with a trail of sand flowing behind him. "I'm coming Gaara, Sakura-chan, just hold on! The saviour is just running fashionably late as always, dattebayo!" Naruto roared in comical fashion.

An ludicrous widen of the eyes stretching to the size of dinner plates, and outrageous sweat drops falling off of the faces of the two jounin let the world know there was something serious wrong with the orange-clad boy, Naruto Uzumaki. "We're gonna get him checked out after this mission is over." The lazy one of the two assured with a nervous eye-smile.

"I'd hope so." The fan-wielding jounin deadpanned as the two reached Naruto who was doing star-jumps in front of the guard who gave him a strange look.

"Lady Temari-sama, you're back from your mission. And you brought the two remaining leaf ninjas!" The guard turned around and led them all through the pathway of the sand village at full speed. Temari took notice of the damage done to the entrance.

"Remaining leaf ninjas…" Kakashi repeated with a narrowed eye.

The guard nodded, "Yes, I was informed by Lord Baki-sama that your other teammate was taken to the hospital by Kurosaki-san to heal Lord Kankuro-sama, who was fatally poisoned by the akatsuki member and traitor of our own village: Sasori."

"So it is true then. That guy was telling the truth." Temari said sadly before steering her resolve. "Is Kankuro-otouto going to be okay? Did Sakura-san heal him?"

Naruto did a front-flip before repeatedly doing multiple back-flips happily, "Hell to yeah! Sakura-chan's okay! That ginger haired man was telling the truth! Woo-hoo! I bet Kankuro's A-Okay with Sakura-chan healing him!" The retarded genin shouted optimistically.

The guard nodded his head to confirm Naruto's claim. "Yes, Lord Baki-sama came out and told me Kankuro was out of any immediate danger, but Sakura-san still has to quickly put together an antidote to kill off the remaining poison in his system." A sigh of relief came from the lips of Temari. At least one of her brothers was safe for another day. Kakashi's thoughts were on something else though.

'So his name's 'Kurosaki', eh. I wonder, is he still there.'

xXx

(Hospital)

xXx

Kankuro, Baki, and the elders recoiled slightly when Ichigo appeared in the middle of the room with the pink haired girl holding his arm. The other medical ninja had decided to walk back after the first time Ichigo shunpo'd him with them to the garden house. It was a dizzying experience that he didn't particularly wish to go through again.

"That's going to take me a while to get used to, Ichigo." Sakura stated as her vision blurred for a few seconds while she held a bottle of green liquid in her hands. She tested it on the remaining poison she extracted from Kankuro, and to her immediate delight it vanished within an instant.

She had created the antidote to counteract Sasori's poison.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Quit your complaining would ya, I got ya there and back within two seconds or so, didn't I?" Sakura frowned as she whipped her arm free from Ichigo's, "Anyway," Tripe aside, Ichigo addressed Kankuro seriously, making the younger boy freeze from his firm gaze. "Hey, Kankuro, I hear Gaara-san's your brother. Am I correct in thinking that?"

Kankuro nodded hesitantly, pushing himself up while Sakura walked over to him with the antidote in hand, "Yeah. Why do you ask Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo's gaze hardened immensely, "He's dying."

Sharp widen of the eyes and gasps escaped everyone's mouths except for Sakura who already knew that. "How can you be so sure of that? That'd mean the akatsuki have already started the extraction process of removing the ichibi no tanuki from within Gaara!" Chiyo shouted.

"That's exactly what I'm saying granny," Ichigo admitted truthfully, making Chiyo recoil slightly before a scowl sat itself on her old wrinkly features, "As for how I know… well, let's just say I'm pretty good at locating high chakra levels."

"You can sense things?" Baki asked incredulously, getting Ichigo to nod with a grin on his face. "Just what are you Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"I would like to know myself." Sakura chimed in with a dangerous edge in her voice as she opened up the bottle and held it to Kankuro's lips, "But he's here now. And I doubt he'd tell us anything even if we wanted him to."

"Damn straight!" Ichigo grinned.

Sakura rolled her eyes as Kankuro started drinking the antidote she made to kill off the remaining poison within his system, "There we go. Drink it all up," After Kankuro finished drinking the antidote; he sat back down with a heavy sigh, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "You'll be a little numb, so try to not move around for a while until it passes through."

"Thank you, Sakura-san." Kankuro thanked her, making her wave it off with a sheepish smile on her face before he turned to address Ichigo, "And thank you too, Ichigo-san. I might've died if you hadn't brought Sakura-san here with your speed technique."

Ichigo waved his hand dismissively, "It's nothing really. What I'm more concerned about now is locating your brother before he gets the Ichibi no Tanuki ripped out of him. Now I don't know much about sealing but I tell from Gaara's slowly fading life force that he's in real danger of passing on to the afterlife."

"It's just like Sasori to be impatient about things. He's always been like that." Chiyo snarled and Ichigo quirked an eyebrow at her, prompting her to explain with his eyes staring a hole through her, "Sasori's my grandson."

"I see." Ichigo responded breathlessly, closing his eyes just as three similar energy signatures drew near, "Looks like they made it here at last then." Ichigo groused nonchalantly, turning his head to the direction of the door.

"What is it Ichigo?" Sakura asked and Ichigo didn't answer as the footsteps drew near before a shout reverberated through the air.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

"KANKURO!"

The worried voices of Naruto and Temari were heard before the two speakers ran straight into the room of which the guard led them to. "YOU!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Ichigo, receiving a careless wave from the orange haired immortal that made Naruto's blood boil, "You son of-."

"YOU!" The sharp narrow of Chiyo's eyes and the venom in her voice cut off Naruto as the elderly woman locked eyes with a confused silver-haired man, "HOW DARE YOU ENTER MY VILLAGE…WHITE FANG OF THE LEAF!" Chiyo shouted uproariously, confusing many except for the undeserved victim of her sudden attack and the enigma.

Chiyo dashed towards Kakashi with Naruto jumping protectively in front of his sensei. But before Chiyo could reach the silver haired jounin and give him the righteous beating in her opinion he deserved, she felt a heavy hand land square on her shoulder, which brought her to a halt as she struggled to shake it off and continue on her way to Kakashi-ass-kicking-town.

"Settle down granny." The enigma's cold voice more or less ordered her to obey as he tried not to crush her shoulder with that one grip he'd on it.

Chiyo could feel her bones cracking from the immense pressure of Ichigo's crushing grip on her shoulder, "Let go of me! I have to avenge my children for what the white fang did to them!" she glared at Ichigo, which he returned with an icily cold one of his own. She gritted her teeth to keep from yelling out in pain, 'It feels like a boulder's been thrown onto my shoulder…! This man is no ordinary wanderer!"

Ebizo walked over to Chiyo and placed his hand onto her other shoulder calmly, "Take a better look at the man sis." His words did just that as Chiyo looked at Kakashi whom was waving his hands around in a placating manner while laughing nervously, "It's true that this man resembles the White Fang of the leaf greatly, but he's clearly not him as the White Fang died twenty years ago, remember. You were so upset because it meant you wouldn't be able to get your vengeance on him."

Once Ichigo felt Chiyo's malevolence dissipate, he released her shoulder and allowed her to hold it while the old lady let out a spirited laugh, most likely to hide her embarrassment and pain caused to her from Ichigo's vice-lock hand-grip on her shoulder, "Oh well. Silly me." Most weren't amused as they rather gave her deadpan looks or strange ones.

'He held the honourable elder Lady Chiyo-sama back with ease! Kurosaki-san is far above the level of jounin-rank. He seems even more powerful than Gaara.' Baki noted as he and Ebizo observed the orange haired enigma closely.

"It'd seem like things are coming together then." Ichigo said offhandedly.

"Hey, you bastard!" Naruto shouted as he attempted to rush Ichigo, but Kakashi grabbed him in a full-nelson and restrained him, "Lemme go, Kakashi-sensei! That bastard took Sakura-chan away; I need to beat him down." The desperate boy stated as he squirmed around in Kakashi's hold.

"It's okay Naruto, Sakura's fine. It'd seem Kurosaki was telling the truth." Kakashi said.

"Kankuro!" Temari screamed as she ran over to her numb bandaged brother. "What the hell were you thinking about, you reckless fool!"

"Hey, sis, what's up? Don't worry about me. I'm fine now thanks to Ichigo-san. He brought Sakura-san here who healed me expertly." Hearing the appreciation in Kankuro's voice made Temari look at Ichigo.

Ichigo sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "There's no need to thank me. I was merely the messenger if you may," He pointed at Sakura lackadaisically, "Give your thanks to Sakura. If it weren't for her, Kankuro would be as good as dead."

"More like kidnapper." The cranky orange clad boy grumbled.

Another ninja walked through the hospital carrying a message in his hand, "A message has arrived not too long go, lord Baki-sama." He handed the letter to Baki who quickly read it before passing it on to Kakashi.

"It's from your Hokage." Baki stated.

"Tsunade-baachan sent us a letter here." Naruto spoke dumbly, looking at the letter Kakashi was reading but failing to make it out as Kakashi finished reading the letter. "What'd it say?"

"Lady Tsunade-sama has dispatched Team Gai to assist us. They are on their way now." Kakashi said informatively.

Naruto smiled fondly, taking the letter from Kakashi unnecessarily as he thought about the four shinobi he hadn't seen since taking off on a two-year training trip with Jiraiya, "Those guys. I haven't seen 'em in ages. I wonder how strong bushy brow's become. I hear Neji's even became a jounin." Naruto psyched himself up, "Alright! No sense in waiting here for those slowpokes to get here! Let's up, up, up, and go, go, go, go, GO!" Naruto turned around to dash off, making Ichigo look at him weirdly, the orange haired immortal's eyes blinking comically.

"Okay, but do you even know where you're going… this time" Naruto halted his progress to absolute nowhere and slumped his shoulders, while Kakashi looked at Baki, "Can you take me to the site of the battlefield. I'm known for having a pretty sensitive nose. Even if the scent is hardly there, I'll be able to track them down."

"That won't be necessary, Kakashi-san." Baki said and Kakashi quirked an eyebrow while Baki walked over to the side and picked up a black cloth that was above scattered pieces of some puppet. "Kankuro was able to get a piece of Sasori's clothing. Furthermore, Kurosaki-san says he can sense that Gaara's life-force is weakening by the second." He handed the cloth to Kakashi.

That got Naruto and Temari to wheeze as the former started hyperventilating, "Oh shit! Gaara's in trouble! We gotta save Gaara! No time like the present guys, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Hrughh. He's like a broken recorder." Ichigo groused. 'He's like a super-powered version of Keigo.' No matter how long Ichigo lived he can never get away from 'thee-Keigo.'

"Tell me about it…" Sakura sighed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Naruto." Kakashi settled Naruto down as he turned his back on Ichigo so he could slip his thumb into his mask and bite it without Ichigo seeing his face, "Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram." Kakashi made the hand-signs of the animals he just called out at such speed only Ichigo could follow them once he turned around again, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Kakashi slammed his right hand on the ground and made a black circle appear around it with kanji-markings around his hand. A puff of smoke occurred before a horde of dogs, small, medium, and large, appeared before Kakashi. The smallest one lay on the top of the biggest one's head.

"Yo." The smallest dog greeted.

"Pakkun!" Naruto smiled widely, recognising the smallest dog, "You haven't changed a bit."

"You haven't either." Pakkun responded.

Naruto put his hands on his hips, "Whaddya talking about? I'm a lot taller for one."

"You're still shorter than me though!" Ichigo grinned cockily.

"Nobody was talking to ya!" Naruto yelled heatedly, making Ichigo's grin widen.

Kakashi bent down in front of the dogs, and showed them the black cloth, "I need you all to trace this to its source and then meet up with Team Gai to take them there." Kakashi looked at Ichigo, "I can assume you'll be becoming with us, right sensor-san."

Ichigo nodded, "Of course. I wouldn't miss a fight for the world." Ichigo rotated his arm in a circular motion, "I've been getting bored recently, I might as well used this as an opportunity to test out my powers."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "You just want to help save Gaara because of your hero-complex."

Ichigo glared at Sakura, "Know it all." Sakura stuck her tongue out at Ichigo.

The dogs sniffed the cloth on Kakashi's hand, "Can you make out where the scent is?" Kakashi asked.

Pakkun nodded as he jumped off of the big dog's head and the rest of them ran out of the room blindingly, "We won't let you down Kakashi! See ya later." Pakkun left the room speedily, following the scent of Sasori to the best of his ability.

Ichigo looked at Baki, "Hey, Baki-san, they may need rooms to sleep for the night."

"What? No! We gotta get to Gaara!" Naruto whined.

"Good thinking Ichigo." Kakashi agreed, "We may have to travel far and wide tomorrow, we'll need all the energy we can get." Naruto looked like he wanted to protest but eventually opted against it as Kakashi looked at Baki.

"But of course Kakashi. I can have four rooms ready for your stay," Kakashi nodded and Baki turned to the orange haired immortal, "What about you Kurosaki-san? You said you are a wanderer, are you not?"

"Stupid bum…" Naruto grumbled.

Ichigo ignored Naruto, "I'll be fine for the night. Besides, even if I wanted to, I doubt I'd be able to get to sleep anyway."

"Everyone needs sleep, Ichigo, even you." Sakura looked at Ichigo with her hands on her hips, "What makes you think you could stay awake all night? You are only human after all." Ichigo smirked mysteriously at the pink haired kuroichi. She had no idea. But for the sake of personal business being kept to himself, the enigma answered Sakura that left her and everyone even more befuddled…

"Ruthless aggression…"


	3. Every Second Is Vital

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto. **

* * *

**Chapter 3: Every Second Is Vital **

Ichigo grunted as he sat in a lotus position on the humongous stone wall that acted as the entrance and the exit to Sunagakure no Sato with his reverse sword stabbed into the ground and bag hung over his sword. The seconds, the minutes, the hours all felt like they were slowly passing the immortal one by. One could just call him eager to finally be able to get a fight in the fifty years he'd been meditating for.

The only reason he chose to go into that hibernation state of sorts was because he felt it'd be easy for him to stay out of the way, and let the world evolve without people becoming suspicious of him. It was only a matter of time until people start to realize, "Hang on! I've known you since I was five. How are you still so young?" To avoid that sort of awkward question/moment he'd to keep on travelling before the kids he'd come to know get wise enough to figure out the man they'd been seeing since nursery times hadn't aged a day in over twenty years… just an example of course.

This made the wanderer even more apathetic than he already was. (Though he masked it well). He knew for a fact and accepted willing that he couldn't hold any attachments to these people he'd met over the course of his long life span. It would just hurt having to see them perish of old age like his dear family and friends of his original birth time-line had. Well some of them didn't make it to old age. Instead they were outright slaughtered by the Godlike-beast that was solely responsible for this new world being developed the way it was today.

His two female friends Orihime and Tatsuki were among them.

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched slightly when the light from the rising sun hit his face and slowly started to light up the darkness of the sky in a radiant glow, signifying it was time to roll.

Ichigo felt an even greater need to save Gaara now. It was something Kankuro had asked-. No. _Pl__eaded _of Ichigo to do after feeling the overwhelmingly powerful enigma's reiatsu (not that he knows it was), on his chest when the orange haired immortal held him down with a mere finger.

xXx

(_Flashback – Last Night)_

_xXx_

"…_Ruthless aggression?" Sakura repeated what Ichigo had just said when she asked him how he could stay awake all night and not be tired incredulously, "I wonder how many people have gotten underneath your skin then." Sakura finished sarcastically, rolling her emerald eyes. _

_Naruto pointed at Ichigo, "Yeah man! You've got some serious anger management issues straw-." A sharp glare from Ichigo warned Naruto he better not finish his line or else. Naruto recoiled but quickly recovered, "-I mean Ichigo." Ichigo nodded his head, "You have got some serious temper issues to work out."_

_A smirk spread itself across Ichigo's face, "And that's coming from the mentally 'unstable' guy whom needs to get checked-up."_

"_Are you calling me dumb?" Naruto asked in an indignant manner._

_Ichigo chuckled humourlessly, "If the sandal fits."_

_Naruto rolled up his sleeves, "That's it. Me and you right now," Naruto challenged before he realized something, "What does the sandal fitting on my foot mean?" Audible face-palms came from everyone in the room, making a question mark appear on top of Naruto's head, "I don't get it."_

_Ichigo turned his head to look at the disappointed Kakashi coolly, "You're gonna have to get him checked-up for real."_

_Kakashi nodded with an eye-smile at Ichigo, "We'll try our best."_

_Naruto looked around rapidly, "Stop talking about me like I'm not here! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'll be the best ninja the leaf village has ever seen, dattebayo!"_

"_Does that mean you'll be even better than the Shodai Hokage?" Ichigo questioned with an all knowing smirk on his face. _

_Naruto nodded his head frantically, "You better believe that Ichigo! I'm aiming for the top."_

_Kakashi sighed tiredly as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll before unsealing it to reveal multiple backpacks sealed up, "Let's just get some rest now. I've got a feeling we're gonna have to travel a great distance to get to Gaara-san. We'll need all the rest we can get." A cough came from Ichigo, "…Except for you Ichigo-san." Kakashi sighed as he threw Sakura and Naruto their backpacks. _

"…_Ruthless aggression is the way to go. It's all ya need." Ichigo grinned confidently. Kankuro looked at Ichigo with a hint of desperation in his eyes before looking at his trembling hand. Depression soon filled the young youth's eyes. _

_He couldn't save his otouto-sama._

_Sakura sighed as she strapped her backpack onto her left shoulder just as Naruto walked over to her with his hand offered out. "I can take that for ya Sakura-chan. It's what teammates do after all. We help each other out, dattebayo!" Naruto smiled. _

"_Naruto, I don't need you as my personal servant you know." Sakura informed. _

_It didn't do anything to falter the blonde's resolve to be her lap dog. "I know Sakura-chan. I'm just trying to be helpful because we're teammates after all." Naruto insisted and Sakura rolled her eyes as she turned away from Naruto, "Some team we are." Naruto frowned. _

'_The boy acts more like a child than a ninja.' Chiyo thought while a sweat drop fell from her head. _

_Kankuro had something else on his mind though, 'Gaara-otouto-sama… I was too weak to do anything to prevent you from being captured. I'll never forgive myself if you die.' Kankuro wailed as he thought about Gaara and how sincere he was about his goal to become Kazekage._

"_The fight I had with Naruto Uzumaki changed me for the better. He's known the same pain as I have, and yet, he fought to protect those precious people close to his heart. It's because of that is why I was defeated on that day, Kankuro… And yet I feel I gained as much out of that fight as Naruto did himself." _

_Kankuro replayed Gaara's words in his head as he remembered the day him and his brother were standing on a Cliffside watching the magnificent sun light up the sea as it slowly fell behind the horizon. At first Kankuro was scared to confront his brother about the village's fear and hatred for him, but the second Gaara started to explain what he wanted to do with his life… his eyes opened wide. _

"_To become the Kazekage… and to gain everyone's respect. This is my dream __Kankuro-niichan."_

_And that was when Kankuro knew the boy that stood before him on that day had truly changed. And not the bad change that one Uchiha went through two years ago, but the good change. No longer was Gaara a lunatic that just wanted to destroy everything in his path because he once believed fighting for oneself would make one strong. No longer did he isolate himself from everyone, (including his siblings), since he believed everyone was against him and must be eradicated on site. _

_He'd become a respectable member of society, one that worked extremely hard to earn the villagers' respect and in return when it came time to decide who the new Kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato should be there was no doubt who it was gonna be. _

"_I believe Gaara-san would make an excellent kazekage. Just like his tou-san."_

"_Lord Gaara-sama should be the ruler of our town. He's the greatest!"_

"_No contest. Gaara has proven to be an excellent shinobi and a fine asset to our village. Terrific shinobi."_

"_Once considered a monster and now he's the hero among us all. If Gaara-sama doesn't become Kazekage then I'll cry."_

"_GAARA-SAMA… GAARA-SAMA… GAARA-SAMA… GAARA-SAMA!"_

_Those words and chants were like music to Kankuro's ears. _

_It was a __unanimous__ decision._

_His brother had become the kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato._

_It just wasn't fair after all that hard work Gaara put in to get to where he was in life that it was being taken away from him from those bastards akatsuki members who infiltrated the village undetected and took Gaara away, 'Otouto-sama.' Tears formed up in Kankuro's eyes as the numbness of having the poison removed from his body reminded him of his pitiful attempt to rescue his brother fail epically, 'I'm sorry I couldn't save you…"_

_Temari could see the hurt in Kankuro's eyes, as could Baki as they each placed their hands on his shoulders, "Kankuro-otouto, try to not blame yourself. None of us could've known that the akatsuki were going to infiltrate our village so easily. But don't worry; we'll rescue otouto-sama no matter what!" Temari concluded determinedly, catching everyone's attention as Ichigo turned to look at Baki. _

"_Yeah about that." Ichigo started in a thoughtful manner, making everyone look at him questionably, "I've been thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that the akatsuki infiltrated this village far too easy, almost as if they walked in like they were ghosts." Naruto cringed at the mention of ghosts. _

"_I see what you're saying Ichigo." Kakashi agreed, "When we were led in here by the guard, I noticed that the pathway to the sand village had multiple craters and deep holes, like paper-tags were either set off or defused, whichever comes first."_

_Baki gave the two a nod of his head in affirmation, slightly surprised with the way the two were able to divulge the difficulty of how the akatsuki penetrated the sand's defences, "Yes, that is correct Hatake-san, Kurosaki-san. The two akatsuki members left multiple paper-tags that killed off some of our members, and almost got Kankuro. But he was able to shield himself and two others before heading off to the battle with Sasori that left him in the life and death state he was in before Haruno-san healed him." _

"_WHAT'RE YOU ALL GETTING AT?! THAT WE HAD A TRAITOR AMONG US THAT LET THE AKATSUKI IN?!" Temari shouted furiously, not liking where this was heading one bit. _

_Ichigo gave Temari a hardened stare that only a veteran__ warrior__ who'd witnessed many wars and death__s__ could give. This made the sand jounin flinch slightly_, _"We're just looking at the possibilities Temari-san. How else would you explain how the akatsuki members were able to infiltrate this village as easily as they did?"_

"_Probably the same way you were able to take Sakura-san from our little group," Temari shot back. _

"_That's different."_

"_How so?"_

_Ichigo let a cocky grin spread across his face, "I'm stronger."_

"_Care to proof that?" Temari asked with narrowed eyes. _

"_I don't need to. Because if I were the one who'd taken Gaara away, no one would've even known it were me." _

_Temari's eyes widened. She and the others had to concede that with the immortal's blinding speed he could've quite possibly fazed into the village, knocked out Gaara stealthily, grabbed him, and vanished out of existence without even alerting anyone that he was even in the village. Hell the first time he entered Baki didn't even know until he spotted him wandering around town. _

_So Baki wasn't too shocked to hear that come out of Ichigo's mouth. _

"_How do you disappear so fast?" Naruto questioned confusedly, "Maybe you use a shunshin that doesn't make smoke appear when you vanish like you did when you took Sakura-chan away."_

"_No. It wasn't __shunshin no jutsu (body flicker technique)__. It's actually a technique taught to me by the faster woman alive. __Shunpo (flash-step)__ it's called." Ichigo explained mysteriously, getting everyone to tilt their heads to the side. 'Or was the faster woman alive__ I should say__.' Ichigo added as an afterthought as a look of sadness swiftly appeared in his eyes before it vanished just as soon as it appeared. _

"_Shunpo?" Kakashi repeated incredulously, getting a nod of verification from Ichigo, "Would you say your master is faster than the fourth hokage was when he was alive?"_

_Ichigo scratched his head, "Maybe."_

"_That's a pretty fast move you have young man." Ebizo complimented and Ichigo nodded his head._

"_Anyway, back on track now." Ichigo said offhandedly, giving Baki a serious look, "Does anyone of your troops appear to be acting strangely, ya' know a little suspicious, or do one of them happen to be missing?"_

_His question caught Baki off-guard as the jounin flinched before regaining his composure, "Yes, unfortunately. One of our council members Yura is nowhere to be found. We don't even know if he's dead or not." He growled._

_Ichigo narrowed his eyes, "I believe you have a traitor on your hands."_

"_No, that can't be right. Yura was on the council for four years. He was one of the most loyal members of Sunagakure no Sato. He organized strategies and plans all for the improvement of the village." Chiyo argued. _

"_He could've been under some form of hypnotism granny," Ichigo elucidated coolly. "In any case you did say Sasori is your grandson, did you not?" Chiyo gave Ichigo a begrudge nod at that. "Then I don't believe it's too farfetched to say he could've used a jutsu to make Yura loyal to him even as he leaves the village. Or a more likely explanation would be that Yura was always loyal to Sasori and Sasori used some form of sleeper jutsu to make Yura forget about him for a time being so it'd be easier for Yura to go undercover without being detected."_

_Ichigo brought up some very good points that'd everyone thinking. It was almost too good to be true. "How do you know all of this, Ichigo?" Kakashi asked, suddenly doubtful of Ichigo._

_Ichigo did not falter from Kakashi's gaze. "I'm merely speculating Kakashi-san. I can stand here and make assumptions, but at the end of the day, it's just me giving my thoughts on how the akatsuki could've penetrated the walls of Sunagakure and why Yura is missing. Would you not agree to that?" Kakashi shook his head with a bit of a scowl on his face from the way Ichigo rebutted his distrust of him._

_Through all of this explanation and complex thinking, the simple-minded blond boy was becoming confused like no one's business, "Ah! I don't get it! Is this guy a traitor or not?!" Naruto frantically scratched his head in exasperation, "Why can't things ever be simple!"_

"_It's merely me surmising that Yura may be a traitor whom let the akatsuki in Naruto." The wise enigma regurgitated for Naruto's sake with a bit of a scowl on his features, 'That kid needs help."_

"_Do you think one of our own men could betray us, Ichigo-san?" The injured youth asked Ichigo, receiving a nod from the immortal man. "I see. You're a wise man Ichigo-san."_

_Ichigo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "You think so." Sakura rolled her eyes and nudged Ichigo in the arm with hers for his modesty. _

"_Don't be so modest about it Ichigo! You did well for someone who dries their hair orange." Sakura giggled. _

"_Well excuse me for not wanting to rub every little significant accomplishment in ya face. And I don't dry my hair." Ichigo griped._

"_She is right about one thing though." Kankuro's weak words directed Ichigo's attention onto him as the injured puppet master looked at Ichigo pleadingly, "You think things through in an intelligent manner, and you're very powerful. That's why… I have a request for you." Kankuro choked out. _

"_Request?" Ichigo repeated. _

"_Kankuro-otouto, you mustn't push yourself. You've only just been healed of that poison rotting your body! Get some rest!" Temari commanded. _

"_Temari-san's right. You should be resting." Ebizo agreed with Temari. _

"_No, it's alright. I have to get this off of my chest anyway," Kankuro insisted, his pleading look not faltering for a minute as he continued to stare at a confused Ichigo, "When you held me down earlier, Ichigo, with only your… finger-."_

"_WHAT, how the hell did he do that?!" Naruto gawked at Ichigo, 'Maybe I shouldn't try to get on his bad side anymore.' Naruto gulped. _

_Kankuro ignored Naruto, not noticing Kakashi and Temari's own gapes at the __clarification__ that Ichigo held him down with a mere finger, "I felt your power, Ichigo-san…__ never __have__ I__ ever felt anything like that at all. This is why I ask of you-. No, I __beg __of you… save my otouto-sama (respected little brother.). Can you do that for me Ichigo-san?" Kankuro requested. Everyone__'s eyes widened__ as Ichigo stood staring at Kankuro's eyes filled with plea. Eventually Ichigo spun on __his heels, stabbed his hands into his pockets, and murmured one word before shunpo-ing (flash-stepping) out of the hospital._

"_Sure…"_

_xXx_

_(End of Flashback)_

_xXx_

"C'mon Sakura-chan, let me have one. I just want one!" Naruto's squeak broke Ichigo out of his musings as he simply levitated up a bit while still in his lotus position to see Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, and Chiyo strolling through the entrance of Sunagakure to leave the aforementioned village with backpacks tied on their backs. The former had a red box in her hands that'd Naruto practically on his knees begging for whatever was inside of it.

"Naruto, these are for Ichigo. You've already had your breakfast. I'm not sure Ichigo had his, but I'm sure he needs breakfast too." Sakura reasoned and the blond boy sulked.

Kakashi looked around with his left hand placed above his brow, "Where is Ichigo anyway?" They had Chiyo because the old lady insisted if they were heading out to face a Sunagakure-ninja then she was just the woman to provide assistance. Besides, it'd been forever since she'd last saw her adorable grandson.

Those were her words, not Kakashi's.

The council were able to stop Temari and the other sand shinobi from heading out to do battle with the akatsuki but they sure of hell wasn't going to stop Chiyo. The retired granny had some serious determination. The council only hoped that no other village would discover that the sand kazekage was taken. That was the main reason why they prohibited any of the other sand shionbi to head out with Team Kakashi and Ichigo to the akatsuki's hideout in the very fear some random mist ninja of the sort would see them, realize they want to rescue their leader, and plan an attack on their weaken village because of it.

"When'll that strange enigma show himself? I'd rather not have to wait all day for him to show himself." Chiyo griped. "It's time to get this show on the road."

"I concur." A voice spoke mysteriously, which made everyone look up to see Ichigo seemingly sitting on air but it was hard to tell because he was too high up. The orange haired immortal simply grabbed his bag, strapped it around his neck to hang horizontally over his chest, picked up his reverse sword, and sheathed it into his sash around his wrist before dropping off of the mountain casually, as if he were just walking off of a bed.

"Ichigo, you dumm-," Sakura began to berate the orange haired immortal for his recklessness to fall off of a mountain the way he did, but trailed off once she saw that Ichigo wasn't falling down like a dropped anchor. Instead he casually walked down as if he were just doing something as simple as walking down the stairs, "…Unreal." Sakura gawked.

"The hell is he doing that? He's walking down the air, dattebayo!" Naruto gawked as Ichigo's feet touched the ground with his hands coolly stabbed into his pockets.

"And you have a flying technique? I'm impressed Ichigo." Kakashi hummed his approval. It wasn't too farfetched to see someone walking on air, some ninjas have been known to wield flight techniques, it was just that it was a rarity to see someone with such a maneuver, hence Naruto's and Sakura's reactions to seeing Ichigo floating down as if he were some god who watched over the world from a volcano on some messiah-shit.

"You dummy, you could've told us you were going to be fine by falling off of that cliff!" Sakura shouted at Ichigo.

"Gah! If I told ya all of my moves, where would be the suspense, eh?" Ichigo questioned rhetorically, getting a huff from Sakura who shoved a red box into his chest, confusing him, "What's this?"

"I brought you some breakfast since you're so keen on rescuing Gaara. I figured you'd need some form of food in your belly, even if you are super strong." Sakura huffed as she turned away from Ichigo who smiled lightly at her.

"Well thanks. Much obliged." Ichigo said appreciatively, getting a cute "hmph" from the pink haired kuroichi as he opened the box and saw four rice balls in it. He grinned as he took one out of the box but quickly quirked an eyebrow once he noticed Naruto's frown with drool coming from his lips, "You want one?" He offered and Naruto nodded his head. Ichigo reached for one of the rice balls, picked it up, and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto grinned goofily, "Thanks Ichigo. I like these." Ichigo nodded his head and Sakura smiled at his thoughtfulness before the two started to eat their rice balls.

Kakashi coughed into his hand, "Let's move on out to the akatsuki's hideout." Ichigo quickly finished the remaining rice balls, and dashed on ahead of everyone else, seeing as he knew where the akatsuki's hideout was due to being able to sense Gaara's life-force weakening by the second. Everyone geared themselves up before they followed after the orange haired man.

They would succeed on this mission no matter what.

xXx

(Akatsuki's Hideout)

xXx

The room was dark and filled with a comprehensive amount of malevolence even if the emitters of said malevolence that were all S-ranked missing ninjas were merely holograms standing on huge stone pillars in the shapes of hands. There were two stone hands with the fingers lit up in an emerald green colour with the kanjis for 1 to 9 on the green glows radiating from the stone fingers the seven akatsuki holograms, Deidara, and Sasori stood upon. In the middle of the two hands was a huge stone statue that'd nine blue chakra dragons spouting from its mouth that connected to the unconscious form of the red-headed kazekage who was trapped in the dragon's aura and had a red energy source coming out of his mouth and eyes.

"We've been at this for hours. When's this stupid ritual shit gonna finish so I can go back to killing mans? Their bloods are waiting my master you know." An extremely unstable voice spoke while his hands were clearly seen held in the ram sign despite only being a hologram.

"Quiet Hidan, you know the drill! It'll take three days and three nights no matter how one slices it." A rather grumpily voice hissed at the one now known as Hidan.

"I'm just saying. Sitting still while we use our chakra performing the Fūinjutsu: Genryū Kyūfūjin (Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals) is making my bloodlust rise. I'll tell ya as soon as we finish this, I'm heading off, finding the first person I can before I stab myself in the heart and watch with glee as that person dies and I remain alive! Hahahahahahaha!" Hidan laughed in a lunatic manner, making the hologram beside him sigh.

A pair of legendary eyes was seen standing on the finger that'd the kanji for 'nine' on it. "That's enough you two, concentrate your energy on completing the sealing of the Ichibi no Tanuki. There'll be plenty of times to bicker afterwards." Hidan frowned at the leader's words, but nodded his head nonetheless as he continued to focus his chakra to drag the Bijuu out of Gaara's body, in return killing off the teen.

Mud of some sort appeared on the ground before it soon revealed to be a man or some sort of creature who literally rose out of the ground. One side of the creature was completely white as if it were a hollow, while the other side was black in colour, almost as if the thing was a combination between the shinigami and the hollow. "I have news for ya Leader-sama."

The man with the legendary eyes spoke up, "What is it Zetsu?"

"It'd seem Sunagakure have sent for reinforcements to help them rescue their lost leader. I've noticed two teams heading for our location. However, on one of the teams two of the four on said team don't seem to be shinobis of Konoha."

"What will you do, Leader-sama? If those teams arrive here before the ritual is finish they could ruin everything." An emotionless female voice spoke next to the leader, standing on finger-kanji-laboured eight.

The leader closed his eyes, "Inform Yakunan that he has been assigned an assessment Zetsu. He is to hold off the closest Konoha team to him for as long as possible. It should buy us a little time at the very least." Zetsu nodded frantically, disappearing into the ground to inform the akatsuki's underling of his duty.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh? He's not even an official member of us." Another voice spoke with cockiness in his voice as he stood on kanji-finger number 6.

"Then what do you suggest Kisame-san?" The leader questioned impassively.

Kisame let a feral grin spread across his shark face. "Why not let me run loose on them. Samehada's been bitching at me lately for some fresh chakra to fed off of. This could be the perfect opportunity for it to get what it wants."

"Hey, why the fuck should you go, you little bitch!" Hidan roared belligerently, "I need a good workout too, you know. My lord's been insisting I get it more sacrifices. I should go, and show these fools who they're messing with!"

"My, my, my, someone's very testy today, eh Hidan-san?" Kisame grimaced.

"Watch it Kisame! I'm not in the mood!" Hidan growled.

"You're both wasting time. I can just see you both keeping the rest of us waiting. And I hate to be kept waiting." Sasori bellowed. "I should go. I will deal with these brats quickly, and get back here as soon as I can."

"My man just wants more lab-rats to play with, hmm." Deidara grinned wryly.

"I am trying to think of the fastest situation to get these leaf ninjas off of our tails, Deidara!" Sasori growled.

"I've made my decision. This is a chance for two of you to use _that_ jutsu. Now all of you settle down." The leader uttered commandingly, making everyone nod as Hidan cursed under his breath. "Kisame, you will be going to stall the Konoha ninja since you have the most chakra out of the akatsuki members." Kisame was grinning from ear to ear while Hidan sulked. "But I will still require 30% of your chakra here. Understood?"

"Of course. Better luck next time Hidan-san." Kisame grinned, channelling his chakra into his own statue finger for the leader's use.

"Fuck off, you bitch!"

"Itachi, you too should go with Kisame and delay one of the Konoha teams for as long as possible." The Leader ordered as he ignored the frowning Hidan and the smirking Kisame for the time being.

Another pair of powerful eyes was seen once Itachi opened his ones, although they weren't nearly as legendary nor as powerful as the Leader's, that guy was on a next level. He was different class all round. "As you request of me, Leader-sama, I shall see to it. Consider it done." Itachi spoke impassively, leaving 30% of his own chakra behind.

"Won't it feel like a reunion of sorts fighting with your old comrades, eh Itachi?" Kisame grinned at Itachi's hologram and Itachi simply cut off the connection, disappearing out of the room, "Oh c'mon. You know I was only playing with ya." Kisame followed his partner's simple and cut off his connection to the group.

"Now that they've gone off to deal with the Konoha teams, I want the rest of you to pour as much chakra as you all possibly can. We need this done." The leader barked emotionlessly, making everyone either nod or grunt as they did as asked of them, 'Even if Kisame and Itachi fail, Yakunan and Koji can at the very least buy us some more time. It's in our hands.'

xXx

(Elsewhere)

xXx

A man was sitting on a log on the outskirts near the akatsuki's hideout with a bag of what looked like crack on his lap, which were covered by his grey pants. His feet were covered with black toed sandals while he didn't wear a top, instead opting to show off his huge physique with an x in the middle of his chest. He'd wild spiky grey hair kind of shaped like a hedgehog and his eyes were filled with glee for killing a helpless bear and eating it mercilessly.

It was uncooked as well.

"That was good food." He stated with an insane grin on his face as he patted the bag of drugs on his lap, "Good drugs. I'll get in the akatsuki for sure with you." He was neglecting the fact that the drugs would weaken his life force and in return shorten the amount of time he'd on the earth. But he didn't care for none of those things; all he cared for was proving to Leader-sama that he was good enough to get in the akatsuki.

The hulk-like lunatic man didn't flinch when he noticed the ground bulge up as if a flower was suddenly spouting from a tree. He knew it was a message from the akatsuki, which in return got him excited to think that Leader-sama would require his services. "Greetings, Yakunan, how's life treating ya as an underlining to the fearsome akatsuki."

The man now known as Yakunan pounded his chest wildly, "Just you wait Zetsu. I'll show Leader-sama I have what it takes to be an actual member of the akatsuki."

Zetsu let a malevolent grin spread across his black and white features, "That's reassuring to hear, Yakunan, because Leader-sama has a request for you. What do you say?"

Yakunan's eyes lit up, "At last! It's about time I started getting noticed! What does Leader-sama want me to do, Zetsu? Capture a jinchuuriki? Take down a village? Oh, maybe he wants me to take down a village and capture a jinchuuriki at the same time! That would be thrilling!"

Zetsu laughed, "No, it's nothing like that. He actually wants you to be a diversion for a couple of pesky ants attempting to recapture the kazekage who's in the middle of the extraction process of the Ichibi no Tanuki."

Yakunan frowned, "Oh man, I was hoping to capture a jinchuuriki." He complained before a savage smirk spread itself across his face, "A few brats, and a possible jounin should be nothing for my elite skills. After all, no one can hit harder than I can when I use my secret weapon."

xXx

(With Ichigo and Team Kakashi)

xXx

"Achoo." Came the spontaneous sneezes of both Ichigo and Sakura as the immortal orange haired man travelled with granny Chiyo and team Kakashi through the trees at a neck-breaking pace to reach Gaara in time before he got killed. "Bless you Sakura/Ichigo," Again the two spoke at the same time, confusing the other as well as the rest.

"Let's just pretend like this didn't happen." Ichigo scowled and Sakura nodded her head in agreement. The two didn't even know that Tsunade also sneezed at exactly the same time as they did.

Now that was creepy.

xXx

(With Team Gai)

xXx

"Yay, we're gonna show these akatsuki the full explosive power of youth and rescue Gaara-san!" An optimistic shout echoed throughout a rocky area as three shinobi all with leaf headbands on their foreheads or waists travelled through the isolated area at full speed. The one that'd spoken had black hair shaped in a bowl cut style with coal eyes lit up with a burning fire of passion in them. His eyebrows were extra bushy as he wore a light green flak jacket over a full green spandex with his red Konoha headband tied around his waist like a belt. He'd on orange leg warmers, black martial arts shoes, and a backpack on his back.

"That's the spirit! Let the full passion of youth burn within the depths of your soul and roar as you stride forward on the hot blooded road of youth!" An older version of the green-spandex suit wearing boy roared passionately, wearing the same suit as Lee. Clearly this man must've been his dad or at the very least distant relative or something. One would distinguish the two by their complexions; Lee was light-skinned while his father-figure/originator was fairly tan-skinned.

Pakkun, who'd quickly found Team Gai, sweat-dropped at the two, suddenly wishing he should've let another dog lead the two to the akatsuki's hideout to meet up with Team Kakashi, 'Those two are insane.'

"Yes, Gai-sensei, if I cannot at least fatally injure one of these akatsuki members, I will do one thousand laps around the village… on my thumbs as well!" Lee declared uproariously.

A girl with brown hair done up in two buns let out a sigh of exasperation as she wore a red Chinese dragon top, red Chinese trousers, red sandals, and a Konoha forehead protector on her forehead while she had a big scroll sheathed to her back. "Lee, would you settle down already? It's logically impossible to do that many laps on one's hands, ya' know."

"That's nonsense Tenten! Lee's got the right attitude! In fact I shall join my precious student on that vigorous road to youth he's strolling on! He's settling the right example!" Gai roared.

"Oh Gai-sensei, I'm truly not worthy to have you as a sensei! I shall make it up to you with five thousand push-ups after I complete this mission!" Lee whimpered comically, "And then I'll do the laps on my thumbs!"

"No Lee-kun, do not blame yourself! If anything, I have let you down by not staying youthful enough!" Gai wailed ludicrously.

"You truly are the end-all-be-all of all role-models Gai-sensei!" Lee yelled exuberantly.

"I've taught you so well Lee-kun! Now is the day you'll show it on the akatsuki who have taken lord Kazekage!" Gai flashed Lee a toothy grin that emitted a sparking glow that almost blinded Tenten and the other seriously annoyed teammate who was wishing he was anywhere else besides here with the two lunatic look-alikes.

But to them they were just being… youthful!

"I swear, it's like being around a couple of children." The long brown haired boy griped as he was running alongside Tenten on the ground away from the hyperactive duo. A safe distance away from them he thought to himself. He'd pale, pupiless, purple eyes as he wore a loose-fitting white kimono jacket, white kimono pants, and a black sash tied around his waist. His forehead protector covered his forehead. He continued moving quickly while doing his best to ignore his childish teammates' actions. He didn't have a backpack on like his teammates did, instead he opted to put his belongings in a sack bag which was strapped coolly over his shoulder.

"Tell me about it Neji." Tenten deadpanned to her superior now known as Neji before addressing Pakkun, "How long do we have to go?"

"It's still a ways away, unfortunately," Pakkun mumbled as he looked at the original and his clone.

Tenten sighed, "Just great. We get another four or five hours of Gai-sensei and Lee screaming about, "the burning passion of youth in the pits of our bellies'."

As if to save her from that nightmare, Pakkun suddenly smelled danger, "Incoming. I smell a strong chakra signature and it's closing in fast!"

Lee was beaming while Neji merely activated his doujutsu and allowed the veins to pop out of his temples and intensify his lavender pale eyes ten folds over, "It's coming alright. And it doesn't look like it wants to have a tea-party," Neji said informatively, immediately halting his advancement through the rocky area to take up his jyuuken stance.

"Woo-hoo, I'm so ready to explode on whoever dares to challenge the mighty Team Gai!" Lee cheered.

"Calm down Lee! You're gonna get us killed with that mind-set!" Tenten griped.

"Lee's taking the right preparation! We must prepare in the same manner as Lee and show this formidable foe our flames of youth!" Gai roared to the heavens and was mimicked by Lee.

Neji palmed his face audibly, "One of these days…" He trailed off, leaving it up to the imagination.

"They'll end up killing us." Tenten chimed in just as a huge broadsword wrapped in bandages with the huge tip of it all blue and scaly, as if the sword were some sort of shark came flying towards her, "About time we got some action!" Tenten's eyes lit up as she skilfully done a cartwheel and dodged the spinning blade that came at her spinning like a propeller.

"Stay back Pakkun-san. We shall handle this foe with the power of youth!" Lee said seriously, standing up with one arm folded behind his back while the other one remained out in an open palm. The small dog nodded and jumped onto an elevated rock out of the way.

It didn't take long before a tall blue-skinned man or some kind of animal man came back-flipping out of the air before skilfully flipping onto a boulder, and holding his bandaged shark-skinned sword at the ready after retrieving it. "What a pleasant surprise. Now I can finally return that kick you gave me, eh Maito Gai." The way the blue skinned-man was talking made it seem like he knew Gai from a personal experience as he wore the akatsuki robe, blue pants, and blue toed-sandals. His forehead protector was tied around his forehead with a mist insignia that'd a slash through it.

Neji could see the fierce amount of chakra just radiating off of Kisame Hoshigaki as the blue haired shark-man stared at them all with a cocky grin on his face. "Such an incredible amount of chakra this man has. I've never known anyone but Naruto to have this kind of immense chakra surging through him!"

Tenten let out a gasp, "That doesn't sound good for us. And it sounds like he knows Gai-sensei personally," All eyes turned to Gai who was staring at Kisame with wide eyes, "Do you know him Gai-sensei?"

"Who are you?" Gai asked, causing his youthful team to face-fault while Kisame just gave him a wicked grin.

"Well it's no wonder they call you a beast. Your intelligence is certainly subhuman." Kisame stated and Gai's eyes widened again.

"Wait… that speech pattern…" Gai said lowly.

"Well it'd seem I've finally jogged your memory_,__ partner_. Whaddya say we get this show on the road then?" Kisame questioned as he held Samehada on his shoulder.

Gai shook his head, "No. Its no use. I can't remember you."

"Well that's a shame isn't it? And here I was hoping for a good reunion between us. After all, it isn't a party if the attendants don't even know each other." Kisame quipped as Samehada started getting feisty, making Kisame jump high into the air before lunging in on Gai. "But that's enough talking. It's time to cut you kitty cats to ribbons for Samehada to snack on. Preferably with some melted cheese on top."

"He's coming! Don't let your guards down for a second team against this formidable foe!" Gai ordered as Lee countered Kisame's attack on Gai by flipping into a hand stand position and letting his legs rip like a propeller, forcing Kisame to quickly slam his feet down on the ground and hold his sword in front of him to block Lee's fierce amount of upside down helicopter-like kicks.

"Wakamono Moeru Puropera Kikku (Youth Blazing Propeller Kicks)!" Lee announced his new taijutsu technique by tremendously stomping his foot into Kisame's blade, sending the zanbato-wielding swordsman flying from the immense force Lee put into his kick. "He blocked most of my kicks."

"Way to go, Lee!" Tenten smiled brightly, seeing Kisame slam so hard into a boulder he made a crack in it. "Just keep unleashing those kicks on this creep, and we'll win this for sure!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Tenten." Neji chimed in level-headedly, still seeing an absurd amount of chakra running through Kisame. "This guy's still got a ridiculous amount of chakra. This won't be easy to win."

Gai nodded his head calmly, standing in the stance Lee stood in. "Neji's right. This opponent is quite the adversary, if only I could remember his name. Then he and I could travel down the hot blooded road of youth together!" Neji and Tenten both face-faulted while Lee roared and told Gai how inspirational he was to him and all young prodigies all around the world.

Kisame stood up, stretching out his back before holding his broadsword at the ready, "Well now, that was certainly a hard set of kicks. I could've been in some serious trouble if I hadn't blocked most of them with Samehada." Kisame admitted as his shark grin never left his face. Team Gai set themselves in stances and prepared themselves to face this foe with chakra levels that could rival the best of them. 'The little one's got a hard kick on him. I best be careful around him. However, I only need to slow them down.'

The true battle was only just beginning.

xXx

(Moments Earlier)

xXx

Sakura jumped alongside Ichigo whom was leading the way from tree branch to tree branch, smashing them with the pure force of every stomp he set his feet on. "Ichigo, you know about the Bijuus right?" Sakura asked spontaneously, catching Kakashi and Chiyo's attention and making Naruto flinch.

Ichigo turned his head to look at her, "I know my fair share. I know there is nine Bijuus altogether. Starting from Gaara's Ichibi no Tanuki, from there on one has got the Nibi no Nekomata (Two-tailed cat), then there's the Sanbi no Kyodaigame (Three-tailed turtle), that seems to be free for the moment. Next: one has got the yonbi no sokou (four-tailed monkey). The Gobi no Irukauma (The Five-tailed dolphin-horse) comes next in the line of the bijuus," Sakura gave Ichigo a strange look at the last Bijuu (Tailed-beast) he mentioned, making him grin sheepishly at her.

"Yeah, certain Bijuus are fusions of two animals put together." Sakura nodded her head and Ichigo continued, "Then there's the Rokubi no Namekuji (Six-tailed demon slug), which hails in Kirigakure. Then there's the Nanabi no Kabutomushi (seven-tailed Horned Beetle), fusion of a beetle and rhino. The next one is the strongest jinchuuriki at this current moment. He or she has the Hachibi no kyogyū (The Eight-Tailed Giant Ox), which is a fusion of a squid and an Ox. His jinchuuriki must at the very least have complete control of him because the Hachibi jinchuuriki is by far the strongest jinchuuriki I've sensed so far."

Naruto's eyes widened as he let out a gasp, 'One can control a Bijuu!'

A masculine voice scoffed within the blonde's head, "**Don't even think about it boy. The day I surrender my power over to a snot nosed brat will be the day that Uchiha-bitch returns! It's not going to happen! EVER!"** Naruto had a gloomy aura around his head at the mention of his long lost "friend" Sasuke Uchiha, making the demonic creature sealed within him roll his huge eyes, "**Fucking softy."**

"So one could control a Bijuu completely if they have them sealed within themselves?" Sakura questioned curiously, getting a nod of verification from Ichigo, "But I always thought Gaara had full control over his Bijuu."

"No, the technique Gaara used that day Sunagakure no Sato attacked Konohagakure no Sato was one that let the Shukaku take full control of his body." Chiyo stated informatively, receiving a hum from Sakura as she proceeded to take over where Ichigo had left off, "The Bijuus are huge youki masses of chakra said to have the power to cause catastrophic chaos effortlessly. During the great ninja wars every nation thought for their control. From our own Ichibi no Tanuki all the way up to the strongest one: The Kyuubi no Kitsune (The Nine-Tailed Fox)." Naruto's eyes became downcast.

The fox held his nose up in the air from within the confines of his prison inside of Naruto. '**What do you expect you pitiful human? Only two humans can defeat me. And I refuse to believe that mass of orange haired thing is a normal human.' **Kyuubi could feel the orange haired enigma's presence from within Naruto, and growled hatefully at the feel of it.

Sakura felt shaken up, "These Bijuus feel so overwhelming. It still feels somewhat hard to believe people would seal them into others, thus ruining their lives. I can't help but feel sorry for those jinchuurikis who have to bare such a burden. I don't think I could ever understand that."

Naruto felt a bit happy. It was kind of like a reassured feeling of sorts that Sakura didn't think the jinchuurikis were monsters, 'At least Sakura-chan won't think I'm a mindless beast if she finds out about my dirty little secret.'

"**Oh, so you're saying we're a couple now?**** Fucking**** Fruitcake…" **Kyuubi quipped sarcastically.

'Shut your mouth, you asshole!' Naruto screamed in his mind before he noticed Ichigo giving him a look. 'What's he looking at like that?' Before Naruto could question Ichigo on why he was looking at him like that the orange haired enigma mouthed the words, 'I know he's in you', which in return made Naruto's eyes go wide as Ichigo turned his head to look ahead of him again, 'What. Just. Happened?' The retard's brain wasn't up to speed yet.

Ichigo looked at Sakura, "So why'd you want to know about the Bijuus for? I doubt you just wanted to learn more about them for whatever reason I don't know."

Sakura shook her head, "No. I wanted to learn about them because I think it might be the lead to finding my long lost teammate Sasuke Uchiha." Kakashi's eye narrowed and Naruto's eyes widened. "He's been chasing after his brother, Itachi Uchiha, who murdered their entire clan and has joined up with the akatsuki, which is the organization that's after the Bijuus for the longest."

"So you thought if you knew which Bijuu this Itachi-guy is going after you and your team could find him, capture him, and use him as a bait of sorts, or around that nature to lure your old friend Sasuke Uchiha out of the woods. Am I hitting the ball here?" The wise orange haired warrior quipped.

"Something around those lines Ichigo." Kakashi chimed in lazily, turning everyone's attention onto him, "Sasuke was once a part of our squad, but he always seemed distant due to the eradication of his entire clan. Over the course of our time together it seemed that Sasuke was finally able to let go of revenge, but a fatal meeting with his nii-san Itachi caused him to sink back into the darkness. It also didn't help that one of the legendary sannin, Orochimaru, gave Sasuke a curse mark on his neck. That only fuelled Sasuke with more malevolence and thoughts on how he didn't need the leaf, and only Orochimaru himself could make him strong."

Ichigo could see both Sakura and Naruto openly sneer at the mention of the snake whom was responsible for driving Sasuke into the darkness. In their blinded opinions, "So, what does this Orochimaru-guy want with Sasuke? Is it something around the lines of wanting a powerful henchman to do his bidding?" Ichigo questioned as he narrowed his eyes, remembering a certain Quincy, 'Maybe this Sasuke-kid's Uryuu's reincarnation. If so, I find it very Ironic how he could get his clan wiped off of the face of the earth again… by one person of his very own tribe this time.' Ichigo shook his head inwardly. This was no time to be getting sentimental.

"One would think so, but no. Orochimaru actually wants Sasuke's body," Kakashi explained gravely, making Naruto and Sakura stiffen up at the mention of it.

"Why would Sasuke be dumb enough to go to Orochimaru if he knows the snake man only wants his body?" Ichigo inquired with a serious scowl placed upon his face.

"Ichigo!" Sakura complained.

"I'm just thinking of this from a neutral perceptive Sakura. I don't mean to upset you or Naruto." Ichigo coolly turned his head over his shoulder to see Naruto glaring at him angrily, "Whether you like it or not, Sasuke betrayed you both." Ichigo knew the rules of a hidden village. If what Kakashi said was true then by all rights Sasuke was a rouge ninja. This all meant he should be given the execution penalty.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU BITCH!" Naruto yelled at Ichigo, but Ichigo's facial features betrayed none of his thoughts, "Sasuke's my bested friend in the whole world! You don't have the right to be speaking about him like that!"

"Naruto, calm down!" Kakashi commanded.

"If Sasuke was truly your best friend, then he would be here, would he not?" Ichigo asked darkly, making Naruto narrow his eyes at him.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A TRUE FRIEND IS!" Naruto shouted. Wasn't that a kettle calling the pot black moment?

"Why are you saying this, Ichigo?" Sakura questioned sadly.

"Because this is the truth whether you like it or not!" Ichigo growled loudly, making Sakura widen her eyes, "Sasuke is neither here nor there at the leaf village. He's run off to Orochimaru. And the last time I checked that meant he was a rouge ninja. In any case he should be given the execution penalty!"

"TSUNADE-BAACHAN WOULD NEVER DO THAT YOU COLD HEARTLESS, SADISTIC BASTARD!" Naruto roared defiantly. A mass amount of fury welled up inside of Ichigo's eyes. So much so it made Naruto recoil.

Just what kind of soft kage doesn't take the justify action against one of their own missing ninja. Truth be told the old Ichigo would've liked to settle the Sasuke-dispute with a peaceful situation. However, he wasn't naivety enough to believe that could happen. Any day now Sasuke could man-slaughter an important member of another village and the leaf village would take mass amounts of blame since Tsunade hadn't put an execution order on Sasuke's head.

This all meant that the village that Sasuke caused harm to would mistake Konoha as part of the crime and more than likely head to war with them in order to get their righteous vengeance for what the Uchiha did to one of their important members.

Whoever this Tsunade was, she was playing a dangerous game letting Sasuke keep his status as a Konoha ninja.

"Ichigo has a point Naruto." Kakashi's usual lazy tone was serious, which surprised both of his teammates, "Sasuke, in all actuality, should be given the execution penalty to let other villages know we are not a part of any sinful deeds he may commit."

"What do you mean by that Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"What he means dear it could start a war between Konoha and another village that this Uchiha in all likelihood could cause harm to." Chiyo explained in Kakashi's stead, making Sakura look at her, "Take Sasori for instance. If the sand village hadn't placed an execution order on him and he came across the Nibi no Nekomata jinchuuriki one day for example and kidnapped said jinchuuriki, Kumogakure would be furious at us for allowing one of our ninja to kidnap theirs. It would cause too much conflict."

Sakura's eyes went wide, "I never thought about that."

"But there has to be another way to settle things, there just has to be. I have to save Sasuke. I can't let him go. I can't." The blond insisted stubbornly, making Ichigo give the pitiful blond boy a sad look before a kunai came flying towards Sakura.

"Lookout!" Ichigo alerted as he grabbed Sakura bridal style in his arms and dodged the kunai that was aiming for her face.

"ICHIGO!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Naruto shouted as he along with Chiyo and Kakashi jumped down from the trees and onto the ground where Ichigo was with Sakura in his arms.

"You okay, Sakura?" Ichigo asked kindly, putting Sakura down on her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine Ichigo. Thank you." Sakura replied a bit flustered at having been picked up so suddenly by the strong man.

Ichigo nodded his head before he growled inwardly, 'I lost my concentration when we were arguing about that Sasuke-shit!' The pissed off orange haired man thought as he straightened his senses once again, "C'mon out ya bastard! I know you're there!"

It didn't take long before a man walked out of the bushes with short black hair falling to his shoulders. His eyes were crimson with three irises in them. He wore a Konoha forehead protector with a slash going across the leaf symbol. He wore a grey shirt with a fishnet shirt underneath his grey long sleeved-shirt. Over both of his shirts he wore the black robe with red clouds printed all over it, signifying he was a member of the fearsome akatsuki, grey pants, white leg warmers, and grey toed-sandals completed his appearance.

"I'm impressed. You were able to grab the girl and move out of the way before the kunai hit you. Well done." He complimented impassively, his arm hidden underneath his long black cloak as if it were broken. But he coolly held his hand out of his black cloak as if his arm was in a cast of sorts.

"This is…" Kakashi trailed off in realization as his eye widened.

"Itachi Uchiha…" Naruto finished with his eyes narrowed.

"They're sending out their big guns already. Then what Ichigo said was true. The extraction of Gaara's bijuu is in progress." Chiyo confirmed.

'So this is the man who has been torturing Sasuke-kun and Naruto all of this time.' Sakura thought to herself as she tightened the black gloves on her hands, not looking at his eyes in particular. Sasuke had Sharingan eyes after all.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU BASTARD! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Naruto yelled.

Itachi raised his finger slightly, "Then come with us Naruto-kun. That's if-."

"That's not happening." Ichigo stated as he hardened his look on Itachi, confusing Sakura who didn't know what was going on. "Now, I suggest you kindly get out of our way, because I'm already in a bad mood as it is. Don't annoy me further."

"Ichigo, be careful! That's Itachi Uchiha! Don't look in his eyes!" Kakashi shouted.

"It's true when fighting a Sharingan user the best way to combat them is to look at their feet or midsection." Chiyo chimed in wisely as she, Kakashi, and Sakura all looked at Itachi's feet or stomach.

"That sounds a lot easier than done." Sakura said meekly, trying not to look at Itachi's eyes. A hand landed on her shoulder, making her turn her head to the side to see Ichigo who hadn't looked away from Itachi, "Ichigo, what are you doing? He'll catch you in a genjutsu."

"She's right Ichigo. You should be looking at his feet." Kakashi suggested.

Ichigo let a smirk grace his features, "I have ways to counter genjutsu." One being his hollow side could snap him out of it. And the second reason being his spiritual power greatly overpowered his physical power. Genjutsu only worked on the physical senses, AKA chakra not reiatsu. Ichigo was pretty much immune to genjutsu.

Sakura quirked an eyebrow, "What do you mean b-."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE WE WAITING FOR? LET'S KICK HIS ASS!" Naruto's shout cut off Sakura as the blond turned away from Itachi and formed a kage bunshin in a puff of smoke.

"Why is he so loud?" Ichigo growled as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder and halted his progress to a land full of torture to the fullest degree.

"He must've been caught in a genjutsu." Kakashi realized as he noticed Naruto looking around in a confused manner.

"What happened? Wasn't Itachi over there?" Naruto pointed dumbly to the side where he was about to run off and beat thin air to a bloody pulp, "What's going on?"

"Naruto, you looked into his eyes!" Sakura scolded him as Ichigo kept a firm grip on Naruto's shoulder. Good thing too, because Naruto had looked into Itachi's eyes again when Ichigo tapped him on the shoulder.

Naruto looked at Sakura with a puzzled expression on his whiskered-features, "But I didn't Sakura-chan. I was sure I was looking at his stomach when he lifted up his finger." Sakura just blinked in a befuddled manner at her blond friend as he felt his shoulder bones crack from Ichigo's firm grip on his shoulder, 'Ouch. Does Ichigo have to grip my shoulder so hard?' Ichigo was actually holding back so he wouldn't crack Naruto's shoulder like a wooden cardboard.

"Itachi must've casted his genjutsu through a part of his body. I wouldn't put it pass him." Chiyo snarled.

"You are wise as one would expect… honourable elder." Itachi uttered respectfully, receiving a scoff from Chiyo who kept her gaze firmly on his feet. "And yes… I used my index finger to cast a genjutsu on Naruto-kun." He raised his index finger again that only Ichigo and Naruto looked at. "But what I would like to know is how you were able to see through my genjutsu… sir."

"I fought tougher guys than you, kid." Ichigo stated with a grin on his face, making confused expressions appear on everyone's faces. Who else could he have fought that was stronger than Itachi?

"How intriguing that is…" Itachi closed his eyes, "And you were able to push your own chakra into Naruto-kun's system to disrupt the flow of Naruto-kun's own chakra, thus freeing him from the genjutsu I placed on him."

"Huh?" Naruto was confused for a couple of seconds until he remembered a day of him disrupting his own chakra to break out of a genjutsu if he were ever in one. It was a bitch falling into the cold water and wetting up his clothes when his master commanded him to stand on the surface of the water and stop the flow of his chakra so he would be able to do so if anyone ever caught him in a genjutsu, "Thanks Ichigo. I kind of lost my head there." He grinned sheepishly.

"No worries." Ichigo replied apathetically, letting go of Naruto's shoulder and stepping in front of the blond in case Itachi got him in a genjutsu again. "Just let me handle this bastard and we'll continue on our way."

"Are you sure you can do that Ichigo?" Sakura asked worriedly. This was still an S-rank missing ninja even if Ichigo had fought tougher opponents.

"Sakura has a point Ichigo. I think it would be for the best if we fought together. It betters our chances of defeating him quicker." Kakashi stated.

"Don't worry. I'll end it without even moving." Ichigo responded confidently, confusing many of how he was going to go about doing that. "Hey, robot-guy, I'd personally like to introduce you to the backwards part of my blade. But I'm not sure if you could handle _it_ first."

"What is he talking about?" Chiyo murmured, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"And what would that be… um-."

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo introduced himself, sensing what Itachi was going to ask him.

"Then what can't I handle Ichigo-kun?" Itachi asked.

Ichigo grinned cockily, "My reiatsu." That'd many eyes blinking comically, even the stoic Uchiha had a question mark on his head but before anyone could question what he'd meant by that his eyes suddenly began to glow a shiny blue colour. Itachi's eyes grew even wider as he felt the air around him thicken to extreme degrees. His legs started giving out on him and he fell so hard to the ground that he cracked it and caused spider cracks to appear on the ground. It was as if a house had been thrown over Itachi's shoulders while a rope was tied around his neck to vehemently choke the air right out of his lungs.

"Whoa… what… power!" Naruto awed at Ichigo's ability to pin down Itachi without being anywhere near him as the blond felt the ground quake epically, as if an elephant stampede was occurring. "The… ground's shaking!"

Kakashi's and Chiyo's legs were trembling as were Sakura's and Naruto's as the four wobbled about as if they were all drunk off of their heads, "This is incredible! I don't think he's even aiming his power at us, but it's still affecting… us! It's hard to breathe!" Kakashi choked out.

"ICHIGO, WHAT IS THIS POWER YOU'VE GOT?!" Sakura screamed forcefully.

'His… power alone is suffocating me… I can't hold the jutsu any longer.' Itachi thought in an uncharacteristic frantic tone of voice. Itachi's world turned black as his body seemingly shape-shifted before Ichigo let his power die down sensing that Itachi was 'done' for.

Sakura, Chiyo, and Naruto dropped to their knees and panted heavily, "That… was too much. I felt like someone was lightly choking me." Sakura panted with sweat running down her face.

"So… that was what the boy meant by he could beat Itachi without moving. That was unheard of." Chiyo inhaled and exhaled intensely.

'No wonder he said I was a hundred years too early for him. I thought him holding down Kankuro with only his finger was mad impressive, but this takes the cake.' Naruto gawked as he looked at 'Itachi''s immobile body, "Dattebayo…" Ichigo was surely the strongest person he'd ever seen. He wasn't even sure if pervy sage could beat him. After all, Jiraiya never dealt with Itachi the way Ichigo did.

It was insane.

Ichigo turned around and walked over to Sakura before kneeling down and placing a hand on her knee tenderly, "Are you okay, Sakura?" Ichigo asked kindly. Admittedly, it was weird that Ichigo felt a little protective of the pink haired kuroichi seeing as he only just met her yesterday, but she was one of the few reminders of his old home. He'd be damned if he lost her. Attachments be damned.

He failed to keep Rukia alive… he would not fail to keep Sakura alive.

Sakura clenched her fist tightly and ferociously sank her fist into Ichigo's tummy, forcing the powerful enigma to cough out spit on his own trousers as his head quickly dropped down. "You dummy! What the hell were you trying to do? I felt like I couldn't even breathe probably."

Ichigo looked up at her, a scowl on his face, "Goddamn it! I tried to focus my reiatsu on that Itachi-guy, did I not? It's not my fault you can't handle my power, ya' know!"

Sakura grabbed Ichigo by the collar, shaking him wildly while on her knees, "And what's that supposed to mean you jerk!? I'm sorry if we can't all have freakish power that threatens to suffocate anyone within a hundred mile radius, idiot!"

"Oh no, Sakura-chan's beating up the strongest man I've ever seen. I'm scared now." Naruto cringed as he jumped away from Sakura and Ichigo while puckering his lips out comically.

Chiyo's eyes were as big as dinner plates as she watched Sakura shake quite possibly the strongest man she'd ever seen in her long life. 'She can do that to him… she must be that slug princess's student.' Chiyo thought while Kakashi strolled over to the unconscious form of 'Itachi'.

After thoroughly shaking a dizzy Ichigo ten more times, Sakura finished off her scolding of him by harshly throwing him down on the grass, "And that's for touching my leg… pervert! Hmph!" Sakura pouted.

What? Well so much for trying to be caring. "Goddamn it! I just can't ever win with ya." Ichigo growled lowly, sitting up in a lotus-position while Sakura turned away from him with her arms crossed over her chest.

On a more serious manner, "Kurosaki-san, you said something about reiatsu. What is that?" Chiyo asked, catching Naruto and Sakura's attentions who both turned to Ichigo with questionable looks on their faces.

"Spiritual energy, ya' know, yin chakra." Ichigo explained as if he were just talking about something as casual as the weather. Chiyo and Sakura's eyes widened at the clarification but before anyone of them could speak up, Kakashi, who was scrutinizing 'Itachi''s body with confusion evident all over his features, only had three things to say. And he uttered them in a very slow manner as if to emphasis the bewilderment on his face.

"…What. The. Fuck."


	4. Blazing Flames of the Devil

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Blazing Flames of the Devil**

"I've never felt such an abnormal power… what exactly is that strange man?" Itachi panted slightly as he reopened his eyes where he was sitting on a tree-stump in a lotus-position next to Kisame who was also sitting next to him in a lotus position with his bandaged sword sheathed to his back.

Itachi turned his head to glance at his partner to see him still meditating with his hands held in the ram sign, "It seems like Kisame's having quite the bit of trouble. Although, it's highly unlikely he'll come across anyone as strong as that man my puppet fought."

A couple of minutes passed with Itachi contemplating how he would inform Leader-sama of what he had come across, "Leader-sama's going to want to know of this, especially since the Kyuubi jinchuuriki is with the enigma right now… things could get fascinating if I do say so myself."

xXx

(Sunagakure No Sato)

xXx

"How the hell could the council members forbid their own ninjas from rescuing Gaara?!" A pissed off Temari growled as she stomped around the village while Baki and Kankuro attended a meeting with said members whom forbid her or any other sand shinobi from rescuing Gaara, "Gaara-sama's our kazekage, mine and Kankuro's brother! Why the heck shouldn't we be allowed to participate in the rescue of our own village leader?"

Temari was basically pulling her hair out over this! She had promised that she would save Gaara no matter the cost! She could not understand why the council members prohibited her to partake in this rescue-mission of her kid brother. Sure another village may figure out that Gaara had been taken away, but that was all the more reason to recover him at all costs.

Temari leaned against the wall of the building and sighed, "Ugh, I hate leaving it all in the hands of others to do things I should by all rights be doing myself." She then idly remembered what Kankuro had begged of the enigma to do, "Kankuro-otouto's left it all in that Ichigo-guy's hands. He must be really hurt." She had her doubts about Ichigo, as one would expect being a ninja and all.

"That guy… he showed up so conveniently when we needed assistance the most, bringing Sakura-san here to heal Kankuro-otouto. Why has he shown up now of all the times?" Temari murmured to herself in deep thought. "I wonder, what're his motives? He took Sakura-san so easily before either Kakashi-san or Naruto-san had even the slightly chance to get her off of his shoulder."

This was something to seriously consider. Ichigo had stated that he was a wanderer, but yet he had enough speed to speed-blitz a jounin and an experienced genin to grab a rookie chunin and throw her over his shoulder before vanishing from sight. With that kind of skill one would assume he was at the very least a high level jounin-rank ninja of some hidden village.

One would most certainly not assume him to be a wanderer.

Temari rubbed her chin a bit aggressively, "Could he be a rouge ninja? If what Kankuro-otouto said was true about Ichigo holding him down with a mere finger, then I can't really see any village sending out ninjas to kill him so hastily," And then again, "I've never heard of him. I should at the very least have heard of him like that bastard snake sannin." Temari seethed with anger at the remembrance of Orochimaru whom was responsible for killing her father.

Temari flinched when an orange blur mixed with black suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. "Yo." Ichigo said coolly, holding a body on his back as if it weighed nothing.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Temari shouted at Ichigo, "Shouldn't you be trying to rescue my kid brother!?" Temari narrowed her eyes at Ichigo, "It's like Kakashi-san said earlier, you've finally shown your true colours, eh."

"Hmph. Hardly," Ichigo half turned his body to show Temari an unconscious man with blue hair falling to his shoulders wearing the akatsuki-robes.

"No way…" Temari stared stupidly at the blue haired man hanging off of Ichigo's pinkie finger as the orange haired man kept his right arm over his shoulder so the traitor of the hidden sand village would stay behind his back, "It can't be…"

"It can. And it is." Ichigo confirmed impassively.

"How the hell was you right about Yura being a traitor to us?" Temari snarled, "You're far too powerful and far too wise to be a wanderer. So tell me where'd you come from and how you know all of this!"

"Tch, like I have to tell ya anything!" Ichigo growled, "I suppose you mean you would tell a complete stranger whom you've never met your life story, eh! Is that about right?"

Temari's eyebrow twitched, "Fine. Whatever. But I'm still not letting my guard down around you just so you know."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Ichigo groused nonchalantly, getting a nod out of the blond haired kuroichi, "So are you gonna tell me where the council members are so I can hand this spy in? Or are you just gonna stand there trying to play a futile game of good cop, bad cop with me?"

"Shut up!" Temari screamed at Ichigo, receiving a scoff from the immortal one as he looked at her with a scowl on his face, "Follow me. I'll take you there." Temari took off running and Ichigo trailed beside her at her _pace _so he wouldn't outrun her_,_"So, are you going to fill me in on the blanks on what happened with that traitor you're holding, or do I have to guess?"

"It seems like you can take jokes and use them as your own I see." Ichigo grumbled and Temari had a scowl on her face. "But if you 'humbly' insist. I'll tell ya what transpired. I just hope your mind doesn't get blown away from what I am about to inform ya." Temari let a smirk spread across her face.

"Try me."

XxX

_(Flashback – Moments Earlier)_

XxX

"_What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned curiously, running over to the bewildered looking Kakashi staring down at the unconscious form of 'Itachi' before he realized why Kakashi was so shocked, "Who in the hell is he?!"_

_Ichigo, along with the two females, walked over to the unconscious blue haired man Ichigo supposedly lay out with his spiritual pressure alone. "I don't believe it." Chiyo gasped as her eyes open wide at the man laid before their feet. _

"_Do you know this man Lady Chiyo?" Sakura asked in curiosity, tilting her head slightly to look at Chiyo. _

_Chiyo gave the pink haired kuroichi a quick stiff nod of her head in confirmation, "That's him! That's Yura… one of the sand village's most loyal members for four years!" Sakura let out a gasp and turned to Ichigo who was looking at Yura with an emotionless look on his face. _

"_It would seem Ichigo was right all along in his assumption about this man being a traitor." Kakashi stated and Ichigo nodded his head simply. _

_Chiyo placed her hand on her chin, "Just what kind of jutsu have the akatsuki got? I could've sworn that was a Sharingan user. I've fought quite a few back in my day," Naruto gave her a shocked look at that. "Don't be so surprised sunny, I've lived a long life you know." Chiyo informed the retarded genin. _

"…_Right." Naruto squeaked. _

"_It doesn't look like it was a henge jutsu the akatsuki used on this man." Sakura chipped in her two cents informatively. _

"_Good observation Sakura. If it were a henge jutsu we should've been able to see through it eventually," Kakashi murmured. "No. I'm afraid we're dealing with something on a whole other level. These akatsuki obviously aren't messing around."_

_The tension was thick as the trio of Team Kakashi, Ichigo, and Chiyo each tried to rattle their brains for any hints they could possibly know of to how the akatsuki were able to use the body of Yura as a human puppet of sorts to slow them down. Only Naruto didn't quite know why they would mercilessly send their own comrades (underlings) out to the front lines just to get battered or most likely killed. 'These akatsuki-bastards are cold blooded monsters!' Naruto gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists tight. _

"_Is he still breathing Kakashi?" Ichigo questioned the masked-jounin, receiving a nod from him that made Ichigo bend down, grab Yura by the collar before standing up, and flinging the traitor behind his back held up by his pinkie finger, much to everyone's immediate confusion, "Then I'll take him back to Sunagakure. If nothing else, they may be able to interrogate him enough to get some information from him."_

"_That's a very good idea. In the meantime the rest of us can head off to the akatsuki's hideout and intervene before the extraction of the Ichibi no Tanuki sealed within Gaara is complete." Chiyo babbled as she reached into her handbag on her shoulder and pulled out a scroll before scribbling something on it._

"_Wait, I'm confused." Naruto started, "Why'd the akatsuki bastards send this poor fool out here to hold us up for anyway? Are they all really that heartless that they would do such a thing to their own comrades?"_

"…_Naruto, it's nothing to do about being heartless, the akatsuki did this because they obviously needed some more time to complete the extraction of Gaara's Bijuu." Kakashi sighed. _

_Naruto's eyes widened, "Damn it! There's no time to waste! We gotta get to Gaara now! Ichigo did say his life-force is weakening."_

_Chiyo spoke up, "It's unfortunate… but whenever a Bijuu is extracted from its host, the host dies afterwards." _

_Naruto gasped, "No! Then we've got to get to Gaara right this instant and prevent that from happening!"_

"_Keep your cool Naruto. We're doing our best to get Gaara back." Kakashi assured level-headedly, making Naruto grit his teeth in anger. Kakashi turned to Ichigo, "So I take it you'll be using __shunpo __to get to the sand village and back to us, right Ichigo?"_

_Ichigo nodded his head without hesitance and Sakura remembered something she wanted to ask the orange haired enigma after he defeated the fake rouge Uchiha, "Ichigo, is what you said true? Do you really rely solely on your spiritual energy?" Kakashi looked at Ichigo with interest after Sakura asked him her question. _

"_Yeah I did. I don't see what the big deal is really," Ichigo offered a shrug of his shoulders, surprising Chiyo, Kakashi, and Sakura._

"_You do realize that's your very own life-force you're using right Ichigo?" Kakashi informed. _

"_Spiritual energy, life-force?" Naruto questioned in a puzzled manner. _

_Chiyo nodded, opting to explain for the simple-minded blond boy to comprehend, "Yes, something not used since the samurai days one thousand years ago. It's said by using your spiritual power alone your chakra becomes 50 times more destructive, seeing as it's your very life-force you are using… but at a price."_

_Naruto gulped down a lump in his throat, "And what price is that granny?"_

"_You die." Kakashi finished with his eye narrowed at Ichigo, receiving a gasp from the blond haired genin. "This was why chakra was introduced by the founder, the rikudou sennin (sage of the six paths). That's what I learned from Jiraiya-sama anyway."_

"_Pervy sage knows about this?" Naruto asked in a confused manner, getting a nod from Kakashi. _

"_Yes, I've heard about that man as well. It was said he created chakra by mixing his physical energy with his spiritual energy, thus making what we know today as 'chakra'." Chiyo explained, getting Sakura to nod who was taking all of this new information in like a sponge, "It made using one's spiritual energy far safer to use. One could think of it like a barrier of sorts that acts around the spiritual energy, once that barrier is broken, the user resorts back to using their spiritual energy, or yin chakra, before they die of chakra exhaustion."_

"_In other words, once one's chakra runs out, they run solely on their life-force which'll inevitably kill them." Sakura summed up what Chiyo cryptically explained in a nut shell while she hardened her look at Ichigo. _

"_Give me a break would ya…" Ichigo sighed in annoyance. "I've been around long enough that I've built up enough reserves for that to never be the case with me. I can't die." Ichigo elucidated, 'And I mean that as the fact that the grass is green and the sky is blue.' _

"_I can't really doubt the huge reserves of spiritual energy you have within you young man, seeing as you held Kankuro down with a mere finger." Chiyo mumbled. _

_Ichigo shrugged his shoulders, "It isn't such a big deal. Not like the one we've got to deal with now." Kakashi nodded his head in agreement with Ichigo, "I'll take this traitor back and catch up to you guys later."_

_Chiyo finished writing out her letter and handed it to Ichigo, "Give that to the council members, it'll explain the situation to them in detail." _

"_I got it granny," Ichigo grunted. _

_Sakura sighed. She didn't get her answer of how Ichigo was able to use his spiritual energy or why he desired to run the risks of using it but she figured it didn't matter if the orange haired immortal seemed indifferent about the dangers of using it. "Don't be a slowpoke Ichigo. The time you get back we might've already rescued Gaara-san." She teased with a wink at Ichigo. _

_Naruto banged his chest wildly, "Now you're speaking my language Sakura-chan." Naruto tightened his long black headband around his forehead challengingly, "If these akatsuki bastards actually believe sending some puppet-lookalike of Itachi Uchiha is gonna slow us down then they're sadly mistaken, dattebayo!" Forgetting about the fact Itachi's puppet caught him in a genjutsu, Naruto was raring to go to save his friend._

_Kakashi halted Naruto's progress, "One second Naruto, we need to know where the akatsuki's hideout is first." Kakashi took out a map from his pouch and looked at Ichigo who was blinking confusedly, "You're the only one of us whom knows where the akatsuki's hideout is, and you're taking off."_

_Ichigo grinned sheepishly, "I kind of forgot about that."_

"_Idiot…" Sakura mumbled under her breath. _

_Ichigo dropped Yura's body like a sack of potatoes, and took the map from Kakashi's hands, "You gotta pen?" Ichigo asked coolly, receiving a pen from Kakashi before he circled the akatsuki's location on the map and handed it back to Kakashi for the others to crowd around the masked-jounin and look at it curiously. "We're still two days away from the akatsuki's hideout from here. If you all keep up a good pace you should all be able to reach it by a day and a half."_

"_I see. No wonder they tried to stall for time. They must be some time away from extracting the Ichibi no Tanuki out of Gaara." Kakashi divulged in a thoughtful manner, "Alright, we'll keep on moving to the akatsuki's hideout and wait for you to catch up to us Ichigo," Ichigo grunted in agreement and picked up Yura before he flung him behind his back again. Without saying another word, Ichigo vanished from sight in a shunpo, leaving Kakashi to round up the troops and head off to the akatsuki's hideout without the powerful immortal for the time being. _

"..._No time like the present guys."_

_xXx_

_(End of Flashback)_

_xXx_

"No way, I can't believe Yura was actually a spy all of this time!" A member of the council gasped as he and the others stared at the unconscious traitor Ichigo had thrown onto a table within a wide 20x25 room with a huge round yellow table that had thirty seats around it. Ebizo, and Baki were sat around the table.

They had just got through the letter Ichigo had handed them while the enigma stood off in the corner with Gaara's siblings and told them from personal experience of their encounter with Itachi's bitch, more or less.

"That stinking rat!" Kankuro snarled. He looked a bit better from yesterday, although he still didn't have his trademark paint face on or his black pyjamas he wore as his ninja attire. Instead he wore a blue long sleeved top, black trousers, and black toed-sandals. "We should've been more prepared for this!" Kankuro berated themselves as he pounded the wall in exasperation.

"Don't be so harsh on yourself Kankuro. No village would've been prepared for something like this to occur. This jutsu the akatsuki have is seriously on another level." Ichigo remarked with his hands shoved into his pockets while Temari checked her brother over for any signs of injury he may have caused himself after hitting the wall the way he did.

Kankuro nodded his head. He was shocked at first when Ichigo had informed him he defeated the fake with only his energy, as were the rest of the council members while Kankuro, their jounin-elite, could barely scratch one of the akatsuki's real members. Sure he fought one of the real members, but they all figured the fakes wouldn't be too far off from the real ones. They must've given the fakes some of their chakra so the fakes would feel like the real ones even know they were not in a sense.

"I do wonder," Baki's gruffly voice directed Ichigo's attention onto him as the enigma looked at him from the corner of his left eye, "If you were able to defeat Yura disguised as the akatsuki member Itachi with Itachi's powers just by raising your… spiritual power, then what kind of damage you could do if you were to release your full power and go all out."

"Honestly, you wouldn't want to see my full power. Because if its released, then everything falls and blows away amidst the furious hurricane storm caused by the initial release of my power. Boulders, buildings, trees, mountains… forget about it all. All would crumple away from the ferocity of the shockwaves created by a mere flex of my blade. Hell, the first time I powered up into my second form an ocean was vaporized into nothing…" Ichigo explained cryptically.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I think I just shit myself," A council member breathed out in shock as he along with everyone else stared wide-eyed at the all-powerful enigma who elaborated for them to comprehend the damage of simply releasing his power would cause.

"You make it sound like you could possibly destroy the entire planet!" Ebizo commented to Ichigo, receiving a shrug of the shoulders from the immortal one. "I just wonder what kind of training you went through to get that kind of _power_, young one."

"A lot of training old man, let's just leave it at that." Ichigo replied with a small grin on his face.

"I do wonder what a powerful man such as yourself is doing here in our little leaderless village." A council member remarked hesitantly to Ichigo.

"You don't have to worry about me friend, I'm on neither one's side. I usually go where the winds of need require me. Or sometimes it may be straight up luck I end up in a village that needs help." Ichigo chuckled jestingly.

One of the council members couldn't take Ichigo's presence anymore. "What the hell are we all doing? This man could've been the reason that monster Gaara was taken away!" The old douchebag shouted, making Kankuro snarl at him. That was the bastard that suggested Sunagakure decide to replace Gaara with someone else as kazekage.

Apparently they only opted to have Gaara in change of Sunagakure as a way of stability so the younger generation wouldn't fear him and they could keep their jinchuuriki in one safe place so no one could kidnap him for the Bijuu inside of him. These were the old douchebag's words.

Too bad that plan failed to epic proportions.

Kankuro was furious at the old man and grabbed him by his collar, which in return had him sweating bullets until Baki called him off. Kankuro then sadly stated that Gaara was his little brother after letting go of the old man.

"I understand why you're suspicious of Ichigo, however this man here is at the very least trying to assist us in recovering Gaara-dono. That has to be respected." Ebizo defended Ichigo calmly.

But the stubborn old man wasn't having any of it. "With all due respect honourable elder, we don't know the full extent of this man's motives or where he came from." He narrowed his eyes at Ichigo, "I suppose we abandon any attempts of rescue for Gaara and ordered this man to leave our village immediately. It's surely too late to rescue him now, we may as well look for a new kazekage."

"WHAT!" Temari and Kankuro yelled at him as Kankuro stomped over to the old man who had a sudden remembrance of ten minutes ago before Ichigo and Temari arrived with Yura in tow when Kankuro had threatened him to never bad mouth his brother or else. "We've been through this you stubborn old man! Gaara's my brother, you're not gonna replace him so easily! And for your information that man over there saved my life! Without him I would be dead!" Kankuro pointed at Ichigo.

"Settle down Kankuro." Ebizo uttered while the old man was sweating bullets from the furious expression on Kankuro's features, "Your concern is understandable as always, but what he says holds some truth. As nice as it is to believe a saviour can miraculously turn up when we need it most, it is highly unlikely. And our village is most significantly weakened at this current time. A new kazekage could indeed be the best thing, just not right now. The village's populace has become accustomed to Gaara, changing him as leader when we neither know if he's alive nor dead wouldn't be for the best." Ebizo explained wisely, as Kankuro continued to growl at the terrified old man.

"He's right, ya' know." Ichigo told Kankuro, making the puppet user look at him, his angry features softening into a pitiful one. "However, that still doesn't mean I have to prove myself to anyone! If someone's in trouble then I'm gonna help them, if tha-." Ichigo started resolutely, cutting himself off as he turned to look at the window.

"What's wrong? Did you sense Gaara? Has something happened to him?" Temari hyperventilated.

Ichigo gripped the hilt of his reverse sword with a serious scowl on his features, "Looks like more trouble occurred from around the horizon." He stated mysteriously, making everyone look at him curiously, but before anyone of them could question him on the matter, Ichigo tremendously skyrocketed himself straight out of the window, leaving shattered ground, toppled over chairs, a damaged table, and drop jaws behind from those who had seen him take off without the use of hand-signs. After a few seconds of awkward silence passed by, one of the stunned council members stammered the only helpful words to get everyone over their stupors.

"Yeah… let's just pretend he used hands-signs for that flight 'jutsu'."

xXx

(Team Gai vs. Kisame)

xXx

"The small fishes sure are feisty today," Kisame uttered with a cocky grin on his face as he blocked a kunai thrown at him by Tenten by raising his sword up. "Try better than that love." Tenten pouted at Kisame but quickly let a smirk spread across her face seeing Neji driving in on him.

"Futsu tanagokoro (Buddha palm)!"

Neji's empowered with chakra palm turned bright yellow in colour before Neji stomped his right leg forward while adjusting his left leg backwards as if he were stretching out his knee. He slammed his lit up palm at Kisame who quickly adjusted and blocked Neji's strike by holding up his sword sideways across his body. But the pure force of Neji's blow still sent him sprawling across the ground on the balls of his feet.

"That was aimed for his weak point." Neji gritted his teeth. His byakugan eyes could see all the pressure points on Kisame's body, allowing him to strike with perfect accuracy at any weak points that would stun Kisame momentarily and be the equivalent of a hundred ton hammer slamming into one select spot on Kisame. That spot would gradually get weaker the more Neji struck it with his Futsu tanagokoro (Buddha palm), doubling and even tripling the immense pain of a palm/finger strike to the weakened spot.

Futsu yubi (Buddha finger) overall was a dangerous style.

"Excellent work Neji-kun! We have him on the defence with our explosive power of youth!" Lee assured exuberantly, back-flipping into the air before he lunged in on Kisame with a flying kick aimed for his face.

"I guess I'll take that leg of yours, eh." Kisame grinned but winced when blood sprayed out of his arm from a kunai that had pierced his shoulder blindingly, "What?" He looked to see Tenten with her hand extended out from the throw she just made before Lee sent him flying backwards from the immense force of his kick.

"Excellent teamwork you guys, with our youthful spirit there's no way we can lose!" Gai roared as Kisame bounced off of the ground and flipped onto his feet once again with his blade Samehada barely held in his grip before he held it at the ready again, "You are quite the formidable foe. I feel as if we've met before."

"You'll remember once I cut you to ribbons and send you all up to heaven." Kisame grinned wickedly, holding his hands together in the snake seal before channelling chakra into his mouth for his jutsu, "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave)." Kisame leap-frogged high into the air, his chest swelling up like a balloon before he released a mass amount of water from his mouth. It was so much water that it looked like Kisame had summoned up a giant waterfall!

"What a fierce amount chakra!" Tenten awed at Kisame's power while she along with her teammates and Pakkun jumped onto elevated rocks and gawked while Kisame's water turned the rocky side into a minuscule ocean!"

"This guy isn't messing around…" Pakkun grumbled.

Kisame landed on the surface of the water with the water-walking jutsu and held Samehada on his shoulder coolly, "Now then. Shall we try this again?"

Lee's eyes had a fire lit in them, "Such a splendid display of power, Kisame-san! We shall defeat you with all our might combined and move on to rescue Gaara-san!" Lee jumped down on the surface of the water and used what little chakra he had to sustain his footing without dropping in completely.

Gai landed on the water next along with Tenten and Neji who both stood up in their stances at Kisame in the ready, "I'll attack him first team. Once I get that big sword off of him he should be wide open for a lethal youthful combo from you lot." Gai murmured to his team and they all nodded their heads in agreement.

"With the three baby rats that keep intervening, I can't fight Maito Gai one on one and return that kick he landed on me two years ago." Kisame whispered to himself, planning on how he was going to deal with the rest of Gai's squad so he could fight Gai one on one.

He had a score to settle with him after all.

Gai charged forward blindingly, delighting Kisame as he brought his broadsword off of his shoulder and held it at the ready, "So, you finally ready to take me on one on one eh?" He was forced to dodge a flying kunai that cut Gai's hair slightly from Tenten. "Nice diversion girly, using your sensei as cover in an attempt to hit me with that toy knife of yours. Well done." Tenten kept up her poker-face while Gai hopped into the air, spun around, and let rip with a spinning roundhouse kick that connected with Samehada as Kisame raised it up to block.

"Now team!" Gai ordered as he planted his two feet on Samehada and pulled away from Kisame, taking Samehada with him at the same time. Kisame's eyes widened for a split second before his lips settled into a satisfied smirk across his face.

Kisame held up his hands in the tiger-sign as Gai's youthful teammates charged him down, "Just beautiful. I couldn't have asked for anymore. Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Jutsu)," Slamming his hands into the water with ferocity, Kisame made three water pillars raise up before they expanded and morphed into three perfect replicas of himself.

Tenten, Neji, and Lee let out gasps as they were caught the moment they got close to the water clones of Kisame and forced into a game of peanuts while the original flashed through a series of hand-seals, "Suirō no Jutsu (Water prison technique)!" The clones' arms turned into water which travelled up their opponents' arms before the water grew comprehensively in size and concealed Gai's team in three domes of water!

'Damn it! We're trapped!' Neji thought as he and Lee desperately tried to escape to no avail whatsoever.

"Lee, Neji, Tenten!" Gai called out worriedly for his team before he lunged in on Kisame with his own blade held above his head. Gai was forced to drop Samehada because a sharp-knife cutting pain penetrated his left palm excruciatingly, "Ahhhhh!" Gai screamed while Samehada travelled back to its master with sharp teeth-like splinters receding back into its hilt.

'GAI-SENSEI!' Lee thought in concern for his sensei.

'What exactly happened just then?' Tenten wondered.

'It's like that sword has a mind of its own.' Neji assessed.

Kisame grabbed Samehada once it dashed back to him and held it on his shoulder, "Samehada's a funny one. It only allows its master to wield it."

"I see." Gai responded as he took off his backpack and opened it up before reaching his hand inside of it. "I should not have picked up an unfamiliar weapon. That was an amateurish mistake. From now on I'll stick to my own weapon." The two trapped chunins and one jounin all widened their eyes as Gai skilfully whipped out two brown bars held together by a chain in both hands like Bruce Lee!

'Gai-sensei's nunchaku!' Lee thought while water went into his mouth as he let out a gasp to see his sensei taking out his signature weapon to prepare to do battle with the fearsome akatsuki member whom he can't even remember.

'This guy must be incredibly skilled to force Gai-sensei to bring out his trademark weapon.' Neji remarked to himself as he carefully observed the fight and the three Kisames holding him and the two chunins hostage for a hint to escape this jutsu before one of them runs out of air!

'This battle's really heating up,' Tenten realized as she watched Gai test out his weapon with a few practise hits at thin air while Kisame grinned eagerly at him.

The fight just went up a gear!

xXx

(Akatsuki's hideout)

xXx

Hologram eyebrows were raised as the eldest Uchiha left in the ninja-world reappeared on his finger-statue with his hands held in the ram seal. "Itachi… I did not expect you back so soon. I predict that you were able to destroy the Konoha ninja or showed them the meaning of… pain." The Leader's expectant voice echoed without a hint of emotion in it.

"Not exactly, Leader-sama." Itachi replied in an impassive tone of voice which surprised his comrades slightly, "There was… an unexpected mass of orange jam-packed with power I could not comprehend."

"You're full of riddles, my man." Deidara exclaimed with amusement evident in his voice.

"Hmph… well, if nothing else he didn't keep us waiting like a _certain _other akatsuki member of our little organization." Sasori growled as he looked at the vacant spot next to Itachi with anger in his eyes.

"No… Kisame is still delaying the other Konoha team. My overall presumption would be that no one on the team Kisame's engaged with has the power to subdue their opponents with not even a mere flex of their muscles." Itachi explained vaguely, making everyone raise their eyebrows.

"Could you be more precise with your words, Itachi-san? It is not that hard." Konan informed expressionlessly.

It didn't bother Itachi one bit as the Sharingan-user's impressive poker-face held true. "What I am saying, Konan-san, is my puppet was subdued by a spike of a strange energy source the enigma calls: 'reiatsu.'"

"Reiat-… What?" Hidan replied confusedly, scepticism evident in his voice. "I think you've eaten one too many paint chips if you think this 'reiatsu' or whatever actually exists!"

"I speak no lies."

"Well this obviously brings food for thought." Leader-sama spoke up, "And you say this man was able to subdue your puppet just by flaring up his 'reiatsu'?" Itachi nodded his head, "Name."

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Itachi told him. "I did not see a leaf headband on his person when my puppet engaged him in battle. Furthermore, my genjutsu techniques had no effect on him, as he was able to keep himself from getting trapped in them while pushing his 'reiatsu' into the Kyuubi jinchuuriki's system and stop his flow of chakra to prevent me from casting a genjutsu on him."

That got Sasori interested. "The Kyuubi jinchuuriki you say?" Itachi nodded his head at the rhetorical question, "Well let's not forget those puppets were my salves I allowed you to use. I only think it's fair that I be the one to capture the Kyuubi jinchuuriki."

"My man's feeling a little sore over the fact he wasn't the one to steal the Ichibi jinchuuriki from his old home, hmm." Deidara chimed in smoothly, actually getting an unmerciful smirk out of Sasori whom waved his tail around in something of an eager manner. He certainly wasn't one to waste time.

"Perhaps."

"I wouldn't underestimate Ichigo Kurosaki's power." Itachi offered his two cents, "The fight barely lasted two minutes, and already the puppet Sasori-san gave me was floored and could not withstand Ichigo-san's (Mr Ichigo's) burst of reiatsu. I would be lying if I said that was the full extent of his power."

"Do not worry about this 'Ichigo'. He shall be dealt with accordingly. Zetsu." Leader-sama called out to the black and white creature who had come back after informing Yakunan of his job to delay one of the Konoha teams that come in reach of him for as long as possible. White Zetsu saluted the leader while black Zetsu merely grunted to let Leader-sama know he had its full attention. "Go on and inform Tobi to go make himself useful."

"Sounds like things are getting pretty dicey," Black Zetsu stated with a smirk on its face as Zetsu sank into the ground to go and inform Tobi of his assignment.

"It's assured. We will rip the Ichibi no Tanuki out of the kazekage known as Gaara. Now, concentrate everyone. Sasori and Deidara will need as much strength as possible afterwards to capture the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and seal him off somewhere until the other Bijuus are collected." The Leader commanded and series of "hmphs" and "hums" reverberated through the air.

"The Kyuubi jinchuuriki better not keep us waiting afterwards."

xXx

(With Yakunan)

xXx

The akatsuki-underling was jumping from tree branch to tree branch at an average pace for a high genin or low chunin. Speed was never his forte. But that wasn't the reason why Leader-sama rounded him up as a lower-ranked warrior of sorts to his group of S-ranked missing ninjas. Yakunan abandoned his own village known as Iwagakure no Sato after he became corrupted with wanting to get stronger at any and all costs.

He made a dangerous drug that drastically increased one's brute strength to that of kage level but in return for that power one's life-force deceased significantly, in fact when Yakunan tested this drug on one of his comrades, he immediately died shortly after his power-up ended. It was as if it were a mere sugar rush that resulted in death instead of tiredness.

He could not take the strain the drug caused his body. Yakunan passed it up to him being too weak. Either way, he had to gather up what little he could and make a break for it before his comrades caught onto what he had done and send Onoki to ice (kill) him. He managed to get away, but ever since that day Onoki had placed an execution order on his head.

"Today's the day I'll show Leader-sama I am good enough to get into the akatsuki." He grabbed at his pocket which held the drugs in it. "I've only used the drugs once when Onoki-teme sent a team of ANBU after me… it felt great." It was initially the reason why Leader-sama recruited him and put him on guard duty near the hideout.

Because even a simple man with simple tools can at the very least be useful.

xXx

(With Team Kakashi and Chiyo)

xXx

Naruto gnashed his teeth while he and the others leaped from tree branch to tree branch speedily, thinking about his follow jinchuuriki and what Chiyo had confirmed when Ichigo mentioned Gaara's life-force was weakening by the second excruciatingly, 'Gaara… I know we never got to spend much time together, but for what it's worth I'm gonna change that once I bring you home!' Naruto thought resolutely, as the Kyuubi's youki chakra leaked out of his body while he pictured his lonely days when he was just a seven year old boy in Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto could see himself standing in a deserted area with yellow cracked ground that looked like the desert. People of all shapes and sizes stood in front of him and threw unmerciful insults at him. They called him a monster, a demon-boy, and a menace to society that should be killed off. Little Naruto had his head lowered as tears poured out of his eyes from the villagers' harsh words that felt even more painful than a kunai to the gut. Of course Naruto knew if they could've they wouldn't have hesitated for a second to lay waste to his little body right there and then and be done with him.

Then Naruto replaced himself with a little red headed boy with a kanji for 'love' on his forehead in front of the cold villagers that switched from leaf ones to sand ones, and the end result for the same. They scorned Gaara just as badly as the leaf villagers scorned him.

Darkness overcame little Naruto as he looked over the realm of the 'drugs' so to be speak. This was kind of like an easy way out of sorts. If he stayed in the darkness then he wouldn't be able to feel the pain of loneliness. And so he sank deeper into the darkness, his arms weren't even mobile as he dropped to the bottom of isolation of the dark as if he were an anchor. He then felt like he had hit something and reached out to touch it.

Unflinchingly, little Naruto stared into the reflection of the water-like mirror of the darkness to see Gaara's same emotionless expression hiding the sadness deep within his emerald panda-eyes. Foreheads touched, as blue eyes met emerald eyes, 'We were the same, you and me… Gaara. I could've been just like you. But-." Little Naruto felt two hands grasp his arms before he found himself pulled from the darkness and next to his black haired and pink haired teammates, 'They saved me from that life of loneliness.' Salty tears ran down Naruto's cheeks. 'You never got that Gaara… that's why; I am gonna save ya no matter what. Because after all, it is what friends do. Right friend?'

Naruto felt his temper rising when he thought about the bastards who'd kidnapped the one who had suffered the same loneliness as him just for their sick twisted plans, which in return made his eyes turn crimson red, his teeth turn into canines, his nails sharpening into claws, and his whisker-marks turning more feral before he picked up the pace and dashed off ahead of everyone else with a shout of, "I'm coming Gaara!"

Sakura sighed, "…He's really determined to save Gaara. I just hope he'll be able to keep his head on straight when we make it to the akatsuki's hideout." Sakura pumped more chakra and sped on ahead and kept a fair distance behind Naruto due to not having the necessary speed to catch up to the speedy enraged blond boy.

Chiyo took notice of Naruto's determination to save Gaara and raised an appraising eyebrow at it. "Kakashi-san, tell me something." Kakashi looked at her, "Why does that boy push himself so hard to save Gaara? He's not even from the same village as Gaara."

"Well lady Chiyo-sama that can be summed up with one simple answer, which is, Naruto holds the Kyuubi no Yoko inside of himself." Chiyo gasped at that. "He can understand Gaara's pain better than anyone in Sunagakure no Sato ever could."

Chiyo nodded her head sadly, "Unfortunately that is true Kakashi-san. All jinchuurikis suffer loneliness within the confines of their own homes. And Gaara's no exception to the matter considering it was my jutsu that sealed the Shukaku inside of young Gaara." Chiyo admitted and felt she had no honour for the wrongs she had caused. "I truly believed I was helping my people but it seemed all I've done is make things a hundred times worst. I guess I am retired sack of bones with one foot in the grave."

"No, c'mon lady Chiyo-sama, you're still a young woman. You could go another thirty years easy," Kakashi joked.

Chiyo let out a bark of laughter, "Maybe you're right Kakashi-san. Perhaps there is something I could do after all. I can't give up just yet." Kakashi nodded his head at that just as the ground started quaking as if a giant was jumping up and down on the ground with ferocity.

"What in the world…" Kakashi whispered with bewilderment on his face while Sakura almost slipped off of her tree branch but she quickly managed to grab a hold of the branch before she swung herself around to stand on the tree branch amidst a struggle to sustain her balance. "You okay Sakura?" Kakashi asked as he and Chiyo landed on the tree branch and flowed chakra to their feet to keep from falling off until the shaking of the earth stopped.

Before Sakura could reply to Kakashi, the ground literally exploded in a mass amount of dirt and rubble that sent poor Naruto skyrocketing high up in the sky from the magnitude of the erupting ground as he chose the unfortunate time to hop on the tree branch over the exploding ground.

"NARUTO!" Kakashi shouted as the rising dust obstructed the view of a humongous silhouette that seemed to tower over them all as its shadow covered the sun itself, "Damn! Is that a summoning creature?" Kakashi wondered and soon got his answer as Naruto landed somewhere down the line on the huge animal's long black body with golden rings printed all over it.

"Is that a…" Sakura trailed off as her wide eyes stared into the comprehensive golden eyes of the granddaddy of all snakes.

"A summoning S-Snake… but what's it doing here?" Chiyo stuttered as she pointed a trembling finger at the snake in front of her.

"**Grrrrrrr! I'm going to eat you humans up for ****trespassing**** on the akatsuki's territory****!" **The masculine voice of the snake roared tremendously, lifting up its body before slamming it so hard on the ground it caused multiple trees (including the one the trio were on), to collapse to the ground and bounce Naruto up in the air once again. "**Get in my mouth little man!"**

"HOLY SHIT!" Naruto shouted as he flew high in the sky and witnessed an overgrown black snake with golden-ring markings around its body before it lifted its body up and stretched its humongous mouth wide open that looked like a cave of sorts to swallow Naruto inside. "Oh, allow that shit! I already got eaten by a snake once, fuck getting eaten by one again! Dattebayo!" Naruto did the criss-cross hand-sign, "Kage Bunshin-no jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" A ton of smoke burst into existence before a slide of sixty Naruto-clones that trailed to the ground appeared next to Naruto.

Naruto used his clones to travel to the ground by grabbing one's feet before scurrying past it and regurgitating the process several more times until his feet touched the mashed up ground from the snake's entrance, much to the relieve sighs of his teammates and Chiyo.

"…That was a close one." Sakura sighed.

"Yeah, but our main problem now is how we deal with this snake in front of us." Kakashi stated as they held their ground and frantically looked around for any escape routes. "He doesn't seem like the type that'll willingly let us pass free-of-charge."

"**I'm going to eat you up now! Leader-sama has given me strict orders to let no one pass!" **The snake's booming voice echoed loudly, as if they were in a tunnel.

"Leader-sama? I'm guessing he's an enigma just like Ichigo-san is if he doesn't even want to give his subordinates his name." Chiyo remarked.

"You're right. But that still begs the question of how we go about getting pass him and to Gaara-san before the extraction is complete." Kakashi commented.

"**You aren't getting pass me! You're all getting in my mouth for breakfast!" **The snake roared.

"GET OUT OF OUR WAY OR I'LL BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU… YOU OVERGROWN BASTARD, DATTEBAYO!" Naruto screamed reassuringly, making the snake scoff that sounded like a deep snort instead.

"**What can a little midget like you do except be my appetizer!" **The snake snorted.

"I'll show you whose is small!" Naruto declared.

"Naruto, don't do everything stupid." Sakura told him.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I'm gonna summon chief toad and he and I are gonna open up a one thousand year old can of whoop ass on this worm!" Naruto quipped as he bit his thumb and prepared to flash through the series of hand-seals necessary to summon the head toad of Mt Myoboku.

Kakashi knew what Naruto had meant by his nickname for the head toad, "Good idea, Naruto. Summoning Gamabunta-sama here is the only option I can see that'll allow us to head any further to the akatsuki's hideout while he fights this snake." Kakashi tried to explain but another fierce wave of power thickened the air to extreme degrees, "N-Not again…" Kakashi choked out as Naruto couldn't begin making his hand-seals due to the pressure which made everyone's legs tremble from the sheer magnitude of it.

"This is Ichigo's spirit energy!" Sakura realized.

And right on cue the snake felt like a tremendous mountain fall heavily onto its head, making it scream out in excruciating pain while its head sank into the ground and made a resounding shockwave occur that created a large crater as if a bomb had gone off. Team Kakashi and Chiyo were thrown off of their feet by the resulting shockwave as the wave of reiatsu eased off of them for the time being.

"Whoa… the snake's been powered into the ground!" Naruto awed at the incredible brute force it took to slam a snake the size of chief toad into the ground and keep him there by the looks of things. Naruto panned his eyes up to see Ichigo sitting on the snake's head with one leg crossed over the other one while he examined his nails as if he had just gotten them done in a beauty salon.

The cocky son-of-a-bitch was taking the piss now.

"I've only known him for a little while now, but already he never ceases to amaze me." Kakashi complimented the trolling immortal with an eye-smile at him.

"Hey, did ya guys miss me? By the looks of it snaky here gave ya lot a hard time." Ichigo stated with a cocky grin on his face.

"Ichigo, you jerk!" Sakura fumed as she jumped to her feet and ran up the snake using the tree-walking jutsu, "What the hell took you so long anyway?!" Ichigo recoiled slightly before he stood up, and looked down at Sakura in annoyance.

"What's the big deal anyway, I got here before you lot got ya useless selves flattened like pancakes." Ichigo groused.

"Shut up, Ichigo! That's no way to talk to the people you've just saved!"

"I'm your rescuer damn it! I'll talk to ya however I want! So why don't you get your cute little ass off of this stupid ass snake and off into some corner, curl up into a ball, and cry, 'Save me! Save me', like you're supposed to do!"

"Who do you think you are ordering me about like that? And I don't need to be saved thank you very much! Hmph!"

While Ichigo and Sakura continued their little banter with Ichigo eventually placing his thumb on his temple before sticking out his tongue goofily at Sakura, Kakashi, Naruto, Chiyo's eyes extended hugely and blinked comically at the duo.

"They argue back and forth like an old marry couple." Chiyo stated with a sweat drop on the back of her head.

"Yeah, I know. They're kind o-." Naruto started to say before his brain realized what Chiyo was implying, "Hey! Sakura-chan's my girl! Not his!" Naruto ran over to the snake and channelled chakra to his feet so he could run up the snake's head speedily, "Hands off my-."

"WHAT?!" Both Ichigo and Sakura turned to yell belligerently at the blond boy, making him recoil before he held his hands up defensively, and backed away from the two while grinning sheepishly. Ichigo and Sakura returned to glaring daggers at one another.

'Those two are lunatics. I always knew Sakura-chan had a bad temper, but Ichigo's only amped that up by ten! Getting involved in their argument is like walking into a boiling oven that's overcooking the chicken!' Naruto quipped.

Eventually Ichigo looked away from Sakura and effectively ended their quarrel. For now the two have called a truce of sorts, "Look, you can yell at me all you want to for not showing up sooner than I did after Gaara's rescued." Ichigo groused coolly, watching as Chiyo and Kakashi walked up the snake seeing as Ichigo was singlehandedly keeping it down. "Of course I'll deal with snaky here and catch up to ya later."

Sakura's scowl softened into one of concern. "Are you sure you'll be okay facing him alone Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked at her in annoyance. "C'mon! Don't give me that look. You see the way I'm keeping him down like he's nothing but a mere baby to me!" Sakura felt a vein pop out of her forehead before Ichigo quickly took off his black windbreaker and placed it over her shoulders, much to her confusion, "Look after my jacket for me would ya. I'm gonna be having too much fun fighting snaky here to keep it on." Ichigo explained with a feral smirk on his face as he strapped his sack-bag around his chest once again.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she put on Ichigo's windbreaker, "Fine! I'll do that for you only because you're helping us on this mission and I don't want you to be exhausted when you eventually catch up to us again! I am a medical ninja you know!" Sakura turned around to be start sprinting down the snake's long body.

Ichigo waved her off lackadaicsically, "Yeah, yeah, don't hurt ya-self honey while ya sprint down snaky's body's here! I wouldn't want to think that I'll have to rescue ya twice in one day." Sakura shook her fist angrily at Ichigo, but he didn't notice as he had his back turned before she disappeared down the snake's body. "…Women." Ichigo groaned.

Naruto stared at Ichigo with his mouth open, "How the heck did ya manage to make Sakura carry your jacket for ya? I've never managed to get her to do that for me."

"A man takes charge." Ichigo smirked before raising his eyebrow with a dumbfounded expression on his features, "Or something like that. Come to think of it I dunno myself how I got her to do that for me. Maybe I'm just lucky," Ichigo scratched his head absently, looking like a chimp on steroids. "Yeah, it's probably that."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"So I can assume you'll be alright holding down this big thing while we make our way off of it Ichigo?" Kakashi questioned in a laid-back manner, getting a grunt from Ichigo which he took as verification. "Let's catch up to Sakura you two."

Naruto looked at Ichigo with jealously in his eyes, and a frown on his whiskered-features. "It's so not fair! Sakura-chan never does anything for me!" Naruto whined childishly, sprinting past Ichigo and down the snake as fast as he could.

Chiyo felt a bead of sweat roll off of her head before she shook it off and addressed Ichigo, "I'm guessing the reveal of Yura as a traitor caused quite the commotion right sunny?"

"Yeah, as one would expect. I get the feeling most council members probably aren't too keen on the idea of me helping to rescue Gaara, but I don't care about that." Ichigo gripped the hilt of his sword determinedly, "As long as Gaara saved than they can be suspicious of me all they want to."

Chiyo gave Ichigo a nod of her head, "I suppose that's an honourable way of thinking of it like that. That Naruto-boy sort of has the same mind-set. Although, his reasons are slightly different for wanting to save Gaara, but nonetheless he's still willing to put his life on the line to save another one who's not even from his village."

"Yeah, I'm aware of the Bijuu sealed into Naruto. It's not like I can't sense it." Ichigo grumbled nonchalantly, getting a nod from Chiyo, "You two should probably get going now. Snaky here's getting rowdy; I think I should allow him to breathe now."

Neither Chiyo nor Kakashi missed the way Ichigo had preferred to the snake as a 'he'. Did he always think of every animal as either a man or woman depending on how he saw them? Strange... "Godspeed Ichigo," Kakashi gave Ichigo a two fingers salute and Ichigo coolly saluted him in return before he and Chiyo ran off to catch up to the youngsters at a neck-breaking pace.

Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest and steadily kept the reiatsu channelling through his feet to keep the snake pinned into the ground long enough for the others to get off of it nonchalantly, "They're taking long…" Ichigo muttered.

"**Would you mind getting off of me?" **Came the snake's voice from within the ground.

"It'll only be for a few more seconds now snaky!" Ichigo groused audibly, making the snake trash around as it felt like two ton overgrown mountains were pinned on its head. Once Ichigo could no longer feel the presences of the others near the snake, he grinned. "I guess it's time to let ya up now."

Ichigo skilfully flipped into the air and landed hard on the ground, causing a shockwave to epically quake the ground and force the snake into the air from the ferocity of the shockwave as if it had just jumped on a bouncy castle!

"**You are a filthy creature! How dare you pin me: the former king of the snakes, Koji, down like that!" **The granddaddy of all snakes roared at Ichigo, calling him a 'creature' since it refused to believe a mere human could possess that kind of immense power… the very notion of it was absurd.

"Whoa, someone's sure woke up on the wrong side of the _bread, _eh Koji?" Ichigo trolled Koji with a grin on his face as he reached for the hilt of his sword.

"**I have no tolerance**** for your childish**** games**** you disgusting creature! I must devour you now and go after those humans and stop them from getting to the akatsuki's hideout!" **Otherwise Leader-sama would kill him. It was a fate worse than getting booted out of its own tribe by its son Manda.

Manda was the big daddy of all snakes now!

Ichigo dug out his ear with his index finger, "C'mon fool. What's the point of living is one can't crack a few jokes to lighten it up. Sure kept me from going insane. Maybe you should try it asshole."

"**You are an irritating creature. You do know that right?" **Koji whammed its head straight into Ichigo like a speeding train. But instead of feeling like a fly had been flicked off of its head and sent launching away, Koji felt like it had hit into an indestructible mountain! Its huge eyes widened seeing Ichigo's hand lay on its head coolly, "**That's not ****possible!"**

"I suppose this means I defy the odds, eh." Ichigo grinned at Koji before he clenched his other fist tight and cocked it back before launching it at Koji with ferocity, lifting the humongous snake off of the ground just from the pour power of his strike. "I might have gone a bit overboard."

xXx

(With Team Kakashi and Chiyo)

xXx

Sakura and Naruto screamed as they were both blown off of their feet along with Chiyo and Kakashi from the shockwave that occurred and knocked multiple trees down. "Just what the hell is Ichig-." Sakura started to say but trailed off once hers and everyone's eyes caught site of Koji flying through the air like a bird. The end result was the drop of their jaws.

"Unreal…" Naruto gawked as he caught site of an orange dot appearing behind Koji before the snake found itself sent soaring in the opposite direction of where it came from and away from Team Kakashi and Chiyo's location.

"He takes super strength onto a next level." Chiyo gaped just as Ichigo shunpo'd above Koji and stomped the snake in its head and sent it crashing towards the ground.

"Get down everyone!" Kakashi ordered and everyone did as told while Koji landed so hard on the ground a bigger shockwave occurred and shattered a mountain into a million little pieces that were blown away in the wind. "Never ceases to amaze me already," Kakashi regurgitated what he'd said earlier while the others just stared on in shock at the remains of the mountain Ichigo had literally eradicated as if it were a simple thing to do.

That fight was reaching Dragon Ball Z-levels!

xXx

(Ichigo vs. Koji)

xXx

"**Ouch…" **Koji groaned as it laid around the once-peaceful-forest-now-turned-into a wasteland from the ferocity of which the snake had been forcefully slammed into the ground by the orange haired immortal. "**His power is off of the charts… even Leader-sama would struggle against him!"**

Ichigo appeared before the snake with his arms crossed over his chest. "That wasn't a lot of fun, but I'm willing to let it slide seeing as I've got a kid leader to save and all. So, yeah, I'm done with ya sn-."

"**NO!****" **Koji yelled, cutting off Ichigo, "**I won't let you go so easily! It's my duty to stand guard near the akatsuki's hideout! You won't go ****any further to stopping the akatsuki and their plans for peace!" **Koji roared as it lunged in on Ichigo again who unsheathed his sword and propelled himself into the sky blindingly, channelling his spiritual energy around his body as he did so, which made an orange tiger form above his body as he held his reverse sword at the ready to strike from the sky.

"Shadousutoraiku: Yaban tora (Shadow Strike: Savage Tiger)!"

Once Ichigo's reverse sword so much of slightly touched Koji's head, the massive glowing tiger above him swarmed in on it and bashed Koji's head tremendously, powering the snake into ground and making a comprehensive crater appear on the ground from the shockwave that also shattered a mountain like glass and blew the pieces away like ashes to the wind.

"You're done." Ichigo stated apathetically, sheathing his sword after his tiger-entity had disappeared. Over the years he had to live and wander the world Ichigo had an infinite amount of time to invest in the ways of swordsmanship, and what his old friend Rukia had once preferred to: Hado and Bakudō spells. In fact he even kept an old book on kido spells done by Rukia which he remade every-so hundred years in order to it keep fresh.

Old memories are precious to lone immortal wolves.

Ichigo turned around to begin walking away from the unconscious snake he had defeated with ease before a swirling black hole of some sort opened up behind him. He spun around to see a tall man with an orange spiral mask over his face wearing a full black cloak with black trousers, white leg warmers, and sandals on his feet. He had a huge purple Gunbai War fan sheathed to his back. He had on a hood to conceal his hair, and a single crimson eye could be seen within the one eye hole his mask had.

Good lord… how did he breathe in that?

"So… I take it you're the troublesome pest a certain little birdie had informed me about." The masked-man stated casually, making Ichigo narrow his eyes at him.

"So you guys were watching us eh?" Ichigo questioned, 'What's up with this guy? It's like he doesn't even have any energy to begin with.' Ichigo tried to get a feel for the masked-man's power level but failed to do so, 'It's like he's wearing one of those cloaks that conceals one's reiatsu my dad told me Aizen used to get behind him unnoticed the time when my mama saved his ass from that hollow whom was about to kill him. But that's outrageous. No one should've one of those cloaks anymore except for the Soul Society!'

"Where are my manners? I suppose you would like an introduction wouldn't you, Ichigo Kurosaki?" The masked-man uttered smoothly, making a scowl occur on Ichigo's face who otherwise kept calm.

"Don't suppose you knew my name from the little fight I had with Itachi's bitch did ya?" Ichigo ventured a guess with a grouse.

"But of course."

"Well seeing as you know my name it's only proper courtesy that I know yours, is it not? Or are you the ring leader of the akatsuki that prefers not to give his name out until after someone hands him his ass? Because if you are one of those guys, I personally wouldn't mind taking the backwards part of my blade, turning it sideways, dusting it off, and sticking it straight up ya' candy ass!" Ichigo quipped and the masked-man merely let out an amused chuckle at such a crude quote. That would make this punk ass motherfucker spill his name if it were the last thing he did.

"In due time… Ichigo, just be patient. And no, I'm not the ring leader, more of a vice-_captain._" The masked-man turned around to face the unconscious snake. "A minor accomplishment if I do say so myself. C-rank stuff at best." The masked-man had an air of supremacy around him that Ichigo didn't like as he strolled over to Koji and tapped him on his head. "There'll be plenty of time for sleep later, fodder-san. Now is the time to be up."

Koji slowly opened its eyes, and paled at the mysterious figure carrying a purple fan on his back. "**T-Tobi-sama****, I-."**

"Just relax Koji-san." The masked-man now known as Tobi seemingly eased Koji's fears while he flashed through a series of hand-signs, "I shall put you to rest now… afterwards _I'll _enjoy a nice barbeque." Koji didn't like the sound of those malevolent words as Tobi finished his set of hand-signs, "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation)." Chakra kneaded inside of Tobi's body, which was converted into fire that ghosted through his mask in a raging wall of intense flames that engulfed the screaming Koji in a blazing fury!

"**AAAAAHHHHHHH!"**

"It's like music to my ears!"

"You fiend!" Ichigo grimaced. This was another Juha Bach or Aizen. This was someone who would mercilessly laid waste to their own subordinates all because they believed they were of no use to them anymore. "There's no point in saying how Koji was loyal to your leader, because it'll just go in one ear, and come out the other, ya bastard!"

Tobi turned around and stood facing Ichigo with the burning flames obliterating Koji and its body into mere ash as his backdrop, giving the masked-man a devilish appearance. "How right you are Ichigo-san. At the end of the day, one wouldn't keep a worn-out bed if it doesn't do the job, they'd simply dispose of it."

Ichigo let out a scoff at Tobi comparing Koji to garbage. "And what if that bed can be repaired eh? Would your leader still get rid out of it then Tobi?"

"But of course he would… because it is much simpler to throw out old beds, and recruit new ones that'll do the job without question." Tobi answered Ichigo cryptically, making Ichigo eyebrow twitch before Tobi got down to business, "You have intrigued me Ichigo-san."

"Yeah, how so is that?" Ichigo asked rudely, the flames of Tobi's Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation technique) danced around the two powerhouse warriors and ignited the ruin forest in a satanic glow.

"To be blunt, I believe Leader-dono would like you to join the ranks of the akatsuki. Would you be willing to accept that?"

"Hell no!"

"Is that your final answer?" Playing a game of 'who wants to be a millionaire', Tobi insisted, "Think about all the use you could put your power to Ichigo-san. You'd be fighting for the better course. This I am sure of, Ichigo-san. You should journey over to the dark side of the spiritual power." Tobi raised his hand to Ichigo.

"I'll never join you bastards, ya bastard!" Ichigo roared and Tobi lowered his hand, "I dunno what your plans are for the Bijuus, but I won't let ya take 'em away. I'll stop ya and the other akatsuki-members now and today! Your plans will fail right here and now!"

"I suppose you need some 'persuasion' of sorts to see things our way," Tobi unsheathed his Gunbai-fan off of his back and held it at the ready, "We have some spare time on our hands. Why don't we spar for a while and I'll show you the power of the almighty akatsuki."

"You may have time but I don't! Now get out of my way!" Ichigo growled commandingly.

"What you don't have I have in spades." Tobi confirmed Ichigo's hunch that he wanted to slow him down and stop him from getting back to the others. Ichigo unsheathed his reverse sword just as Tobi lunged in on him. "As they say, Ichigo-san, let the games begin."

"Goddamn it!"

xXx

(With Team Kakashi and Chiyo)

xXx

"That barrage of attacks from Ichigo on that snake was too much." Sakura said, still in stock from seeing it as she subconsciously held Ichigo's windbreaker closer to her body. It felt loose on her due to the immortal's rather massive physique for a twenty year old.

Naruto nodded his head, "Yeah, I know what ya mean. It's like he's showing his true power little by little."

"So-long as he's on our side for the time being we have nothing to worry about. Now let's put some extra juice into our paces, we have a kazekage to save you know." Kakashi stated as the four of them kept on running forward closer to the akatsuki's hideout on the ground.

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Yeah man! We gotta save Gaara!"

"NOT SO FAST!" An newcomer's voice was heard somewhere before a hulking man came charging towards them like a bull that made everyone widen their eyes as the grey haired man had speared Kakashi and carried him backwards.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI/KAKASHI-SAN!" Naruto, Sakura, and Chiyo shouted respectively, watching as Kakashi managed to effectively slam his knee repeatedly into the man's chest before dragging his heels into the ground to slow down their momentums and choke the big man a bit before throwing him aside.

"You're still the best sensei!" Naruto complimented Kakashi with a goofy smile on his face.

"It would seem like another one of the akatsuki's underlings has come out of the woodwork to delay us… they must be really desperate for time." Chiyo guessed as she watched the grey haired man wobble to his feet with an x-scar engraved into his chest.

"Such a horrible wound he has. He must be off of his head to walk around like that." Sakura commented.

"You sliver haired son-of-a-bitch! You have no right to touch me like that! Do you know who I am!?" The hulk-like man roared belligerently, he was more pissed off that Kakashi could throw him aside like that than hurt.

"No, and to tell you the truth I do-."

"I'll tell you who I am! I am Yakunan! And I am a-soon-to-be member of the akatsuki! Just you wait fuckers! I will rise through the ranks eventually!" Yakunan declared and everyone just gave him deadpan looks.

"What an uncivilized man. If it weren't the akatsuki we were dealing with I would question what organization in the right frame of mind would recruit him to their gang of thugs," Chiyo explained and everyone nodded in agreement and adjusted themselves into stances, fully prepared to blow this fodder away, and continue on their way to rescue Gaara.

However, the fodder had a trick up his sleeve that'd make this fight a lot harder than they imagined it to be.


	5. Wild Tiger Gives Chase to Fiendish Cat

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto.**

**Last time: Tobi shows his brutality in mercilessly killing off Koji.**

**This Time: Welcome to Dragon Ball Z!**

* * *

**Chapter five: A Game of Wild Tiger & Fiendish Cat**

As the akatsuki members, minus Kisame, continued to utilize their chakras to effectively use the Fūinjutsu: Genryū Kyūfūjin (Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals) in order to unmercifully pull the Ichibi no Tanuki out of the young kazekage, Hidan couldn't keep the chuckle that escaped his lips at the thought of Leader-sama sending the clown of the akatsuki out to delay the supposedly powerful enigma.

"Would you care to share with the rest of us what you find so amusing Hidan?" Konan questioned as her eyes never left the floating form of the captured Kazekage surrounded by the vacuuming-like aura of the dragons agonizingly removing the Ichibi no Tanuki out of his body. And even as the moans of agony left Gaara's mouth Konan continued to observe him without any sign of sadness, malice, or even glee in her eyes.

She was just doing her job like the trash-men do theirs.

Once the last of Hidan's chuckles were let out to echo throughout the air, his lips curved up into a devilish smirk. "No reason… I just find it delightful that Leader-sama would send that spineless whipping boy Tobi to attempt to slow that Ichigo-guy down."

Deidara had an amused grin on his features, "Hmm, you think you'd be able to do a better job than Tobi, my man?"

"Don't question me you asshole! With my special ability, I'm immortal! No one can kill me or deal with me quickly enough to move on! The very idea of me being defeated is absurd at worst and forgettable at best!" Hidan yelled brashly, making the hologram beside him sigh exasperatedly.

"I highly suggest you don't underestimate Tobi." Konan stated, making Hidan raise an eyebrow at her. "Tobi can be many things. He can be as delicate as a flower and as graceful as a figure-skater. He can be as ruthless as a savage animal and as cold blooded as any serial killer there is. He's also a terrific spokesman with great charisma to make people see his side of things."

The other members of the akatsuki (except Leader-sama and Itachi) stayed silent as they contemplated Konan's strange choice of words to describe the usual clown-underling of the akatsuki. She spoke so highly of him as if he were hiding behind a mask and the real Tobi had only now decided to show himself because a powerful opponent threatened to ruin their attempt to seal the Ichibi no Tanuki into the Gedō Mazō statue from within Gaara.

"Did I miss something?" Sasori spoke up incredulously, "Because I could've sworn 'Tobi' was no more than a mere pawn to our plans. But here Konan-san is talking like he's of higher rank than all of us combined. I find that rather strange if I do say so myself."

"It can wait until after Tobi returns from his duel with Ichigo Kurosaki." Leader-sama declared, "He will be able to stall Kurosaki long enough for us to rip the Ichibi out of the kazekage known as Gaara of the desert. Otherwise I wouldn't have sent Zetsu to inform him to fight Kurosaki now, would I?" That got everyone to nod or grunt in agreement. They would just have to trust Leader-sama and concentrate their chakras in order to rip Gaara's Bijuu out of his body, in return killing off the teen.

It wasn't hard to figure out.

xXx

(Ichigo vs. Tobi)

xXx

As the devilish flames danced around Ichigo and Tobi which completely turned Koji into a mere pile of ash that burned away into nothing amidst the flames of Tobi's jutsu, Ichigo snarled at the orange masked-man and gripped his sword tightly. Looking at Tobi's mask with narrowed eyes, Ichigo could tell that he was an Uchiha due to the single crimson red eye of the Sharingan he could see within the one eye hole of Tobi's mask.

That of course begged the question. Why would Tobi only use one of his Sharingan eyes? Surely he would have two like the other Sharingan users Ichigo had come across in his long life. There were none more so than the head of all Uchihas, the most powerful one Ichigo had ever faced. The only Uchiha that'd ever forced Ichigo to unleash his second form before Konoha was ever even built.

But that was a story all on its own.

Tobi casually held out his hand and to Ichigo's curiosity that made him put up his guard, a purple ball of some sort formed on Tobi's hand mixed with a hint of blue inside of it. "It's too bad… Ichigo, you could've made for a fine addition to the akatsuki."

"I told ya I would never join you corrupt bastards!" Ichigo roared.

Tobi let out a chuckle, "But yet you believe _we're _the sinister ones fighting for war and whatnot eh Ichigo Kurosaki-san." Ichigo looked at Tobi with disgust evident all over his features, making more chuckles escape Tobi's lips from behind his mask, "Even with all your wisdom you still can't see right from wrong."

Ichigo gnashed his teeth, "You're starting to annoy me you troublesome bastard! I may not be perfect, but at least I don't try to kill people! That's why I carry a reverse ninjato around!" Ichigo held his ninjato sword at the ready, "So I won't have to worry about killing anyone when I fight 'em!"

"How very noble of you, Ichigo-san," Tobi complimented in such a casual way, it would've sent chills up anyone else's (barring Ichigo) spines, "But even still… you're very naïve for one who's lived a ridiculously long life as you."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Tobi. That could mean one of two things, which was either he knew Ichigo had outlasted all of the humans within his born timeline and most of the shinigamis except a few that were either really, really old or fully grown adults depending on whether they were children or adults back in the old times when things like cars and guns existed that were now a thing of the past. Or it could mean he became aware of Ichigo right when the enigma chose to go into that hibernation of sorts above the humongous boiling volcano.

Ichigo wanted to bet on the latter, however the way the masked-man spoke made it seem like he too outlived the days where reiatsu, reiryoku, reishi were actually common among a few special individuals such as the Quincy or normal human beings that developed powers such as Chad and Orihime.

Reishi (spirit particles) - allowed the user to be able to walk on the very air itself and composed the spiritual bodies of shinigami and hollow and the planes of their existence such as the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo respectively. (Although, very little of it remained in the human world to an extent.) Only spiritually aware humans like the Quincy for instance could see Reishi. Since that of physical energy was introduced to that of reiryoku, no one had been able to see reishi flowing through the air.

Reiryoku (spirit energy) – Every human still had some form of reiryoku even if it were only little that inevitably got overpowered by their yang chakra. Even still, if this amount was higher than a certain degree, it can grant humans (like Naruto) high chakra reserves and superhuman abilities (to a higher degree). Back in the day, it was very rare for above-average level of reiryoku to be found within the humans of the living world. It seemed with the higher amount of reiryoku a human had the more possible chance of them being able to see ghosts would occur. Nowadays, those without any chakra coils have no sign of reiryoku in them.

Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) – While Reiryoku was the potential reiatsu was the energy in use. Those with high levels of reiryoku ended up with high levels of reiatsu. Those would mainly consist of skilled warriors such as Ichigo Kurosaki. One skilled warrior could overcome a person possessing greater reiryoku by possessing even greater reiatsu. This was done by having greater control over their own reiryoku.

"You're confused, my senses tell me." Tobi explained as if reading Ichigo's mind, receiving a growl out of Ichigo, "So, let me make this crystal clear for you – starting with the difference in skill between you and I. From a scale from one to ten – if I rank at a six, then you rank at a ten. Strength, speed, and agility, you beat me in all three… however, you will lose."

"What?" Ichigo growled in a puzzled manner, "How does that make any sense you dumb bastard! If I'm so much stronger than you, then how can you go about beating me?"

"Because."

"Because what ya bastard?"

"There are too many reasons why you cannot defeat me Ichigo-san. But for now, let's just say I fight for justice and to bring peace back to the world me and my comrades once knew as home." Tobi then started laughing devilishly, "I'VE GOT THIS IN THE BAG ICHIGO-SAN! YOU CAN'T BEAT ME! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Ichigo dug out his ear with a bored look on his features while Tobi's lunatic laugh rang through the air while the flames of his jutsu started to dissipate at long last. "Are you done?" Tobi stopped chucking to adjust his mask at Ichigo, "Good, because all this talk is really starting to wear down my ear drums." With that Ichigo fazed out and reappeared at the side of Tobi swiftly.

"Fast…" Tobi said amusedly, blocking multiple slash attempts by Ichigo who gracefully swung his reverse ninjato blade at him to no avail as Tobi's parried Ichigo's attacks with his (one-handed-style) fan in hand. Sparks were seen flying all over the place as the ground crumbled from the pure brutality and force of Tobi's fan colliding with Ichigo's sword while the orange masked-man kept his purple ball charged on his right hand.

Ichigo gritted his teeth as mountains fell to the ground with the pieces blowing away amidst the mini hurricanes being created by the pure intensity of Ichigo's blinding swings being blocked by Tobi's fan before Tobi leaned his body to the side and shot Ichigo a tremendous side kick that sent him sprawling across the ground!

"Damn it!" Ichigo growled as he stood back up, the back of his white t shirt torn off slightly, revealing a thin curvy black symbol of some sort printed on Ichigo's back. "First you say I'm tougher than you and then you block my attacks like I'm some old lady on her last pair of legs!" Ichigo quipped.

"I do not mince words Ichigo." Tobi stated confidently, "I suppose one could say five times five is twenty five, enhancing my power even further than what it already was." Ichigo snarled at the riddles Tobi was letting off as the masked-man placed the purple ball in front of him and cocked his leg back as if he were getting ready to blast a football at Ichigo, "Fukusū no Akuma no Bakudan ( Multiple Satanic Bombs)!"

As Tobi's leg connected with the purple ball of energy, sending it launching at Ichigo ferociously, it scattered into a hundred little pieces and continued on their skyrocketing-dash to the wide-eyed enigma like a broken Gatling gun firing off quick-fire bullets… only much faster!

"Damn it!" Mesmerizingly, Ichigo swayed his body around in many different directions, dodging the purple bullets that exploded upon hitting the ground and caused a chain-reaction that made the explosions get bigger with every bomb that fell on the ground. Ichigo climbed into the air and watched from a bird-eye view as the last of the energy blasts expanded in a heat dome of sorts which blow-up and covered the humongous pancake-like area surrounded by untouched trees of the forest the fight hadn't gotten to yet.

"Tch… this guy isn't messing around." Ichigo muttered through gnash teeth as Tobi surged through the air like a shooting rocket. "You can sure leap high. Who taught ya that, your mama?" Tobi didn't response to Ichigo, but instead lashed out at him with a wave of his fan that Ichigo blocked with his ninjato sword, "If you think you're gonna stop me and the others from saving Gaara, think again!"

Tobi and Ichigo exchanged outrageously quick slashes and parries with each other while in the air, sending sparks flying off of their fan and sword respectively, with huge shockwaves threatening to slice the very air in two itself. Eventually, Tobi shot both of his legs at Ichigo's ribs, making Ichigo raise his sword to block lest he wanted to try and tank a mountain-buster dropkick to the ribs.

It wasn't that he couldn't withstand a mountain-eradicating blow; it was just that true warriors don't allow themselves to be hit if they can help it.

As Tobi rebounded off of Ichigo's blade and started to descend casually towards the ground, a feral smirk spread itself across Ichigo's features, "I hope you like getting fried, because that's what gonna happen to you." Ichigo held up his left hand and formed a gun shape with his index finger and thumb, channelling reiryoku (spirit energy) on the tip of his finger, making a humming noise of sorts reverberate through the air while tiny pieces of blue energy assembled together on his finger in the shape of a basketball.

"Hado number 99: Reigan (Spirit Gun)!"

Ichigo released a long cannon-wave of blue reiryoku that zoomed in on Tobi while Ichigo kept his face impassive. His hardened brown eyes stared a hole through Tobi while the masked-man simply held his fan on his chest where the Reigan connected with it and vehemently increased his descent to the ground before it was sucked into the fan, much to Ichigo's annoyance.

"So that fan can absorb reiryoku, eh?" Ichigo mumbled while Tobi held his fan at the ready, and fired Ichigo's Reigan right back at him with immense force! "Tch… leave it to the bad guys to shoot one's own moves at 'em." Ichigo griped, bitch-slapping his own hado blast away like a pesky bee on his shoulder. The ball of energy travelled to the ground before it drove into the ocean and created a long path-way as if a messiah had separated the water momentarily before it came to an island away from the Elemental Nations and detonated upon impact, nuclear bomb-style!

A quarter of that island was no more but a potential shipping dock.

Ichigo closed the distance between him and Tobi with a shunpo, slamming one palm into Tobi's chest immensely, making Tobi look like he just spat out salvia inside of his mask the way his arms and legs flapped to the side the moment Ichigo hammered his palm into Tobi's thorax! "All aboard on the express's way, location: The ground!" Ichigo quipped as he was shrouded from head to toe in a shiny azure-blue aura that helped him power Tobi to the ground with the sound of a 'dropping bomb' whistling excruciatingly throughout the air.

The shine around Ichigo seemingly gleamed even brighter the moment Ichigo slammed Tobi into the ground and made a giant crater open up, levelling a couple more trees that were miles away from the deep-pit of the battle-zone that was once a peaceful forest filled with rabbits and other animals that were now mere smudges of blood that coated the ground!

**BOOM! **

xXx

(Team Kakashi & Chiyo vs. Yakunan)

xXx

Sakura screamed as she along with her teammates and their opponent were blown off of their feet by the tremendous hurricane that forcefully blew multiple trees away like a deck of cards that scattered away amidst the wind.

"What the hell was that?" Yakunan asked brashly, standing up while holding his arm with a pained expression on his face. His jaw dropped like everyone else's did once he noticed a good chuck of the forest was eradicated by a mere tornado of sorts that inexplicably occurred.

"Whoa… that must've been Ichigo!" Naruto exclaimed with a shocked expression on his face.

Yakunan raised an eyebrow, "Ichigo? Who is that strawberry?"

"Someone who I'm gonna murder once he gets back to us!" Sakura stated righteously, holding Ichigo's windbreaker together for emphasis, "That jerk made me carry his damn jacket for him!" Her teammates and Chiyo sweat dropped while Yakunan narrowed his eyes with a scowl on his face.

"Sakura, I don't think now's the time." Kakashi chided lightly.

"Yes, defeating this man should be of our highest priority, and as soon as possible if we can help it." Chiyo explained.

"Grrrr! None of you are getting pass me! The very idea of you four bypassing me is laughable at best!" Yakunan roared.

"Don't forget Kakashi-sensei threw your sorry ass to the curb like the bitch that you are!" Naruto shouted with a feral smirk on his features, looking more like a cat-smirk than anything else.

The cranky-hulk-like man didn't take kindly to Naruto's insult, "How dare you insult me, you filthy worm!?" Yakunan charged Naruto down like a bull and forcefully hit him just as Naruto put up his guard to block. The force of the hit lifted Naruto off of his feet and threw him through the air, "How did you like that, you little fucker?!"

Naruto simply landed on his feet and sprawled across the ground before stopping his momentum to look at Yakunan with a big grin across his features, "Is that it? I expected more to be honest with ya. My Grandmamma hits wayyyyy harder than you!"

Yakunan had an angry blush on his cheeks, "Don't you dare compare me to an old lady!" As if to prove Naruto's claim about his Grandma hitting harder than a mini-hulk-man, Sakura ran over to Yakunan and launched a powerful side kick directly into his gut with her chakra empowered-leg, sending Yakunan soaring away like a rocket. "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"That's why Grandmamma hits harder than you. She passed on that same skill over to her student..." Naruto explained with a zombie-like look on his features, suppressing a yelp of fear in his throat from seeing Sakura send a full grown man crashing through multiple trees as if she had just done something as casual as kicking a soccer-ball through a fence… casual for a ninja that was. And outright overkill for Tsunade. One wouldn't want to save a shot from Tsunade.

One's ribs would get destroyed just from tanking the ball hit by Tsunade-baachan.

"I should've guessed that slug princess Tsunade would pass on her super strength to her student. You just keep on impressing me girl." Chiyo mumbled and Sakura smiled blissfully.

Kakashi looked at the damage done by Sakura hammering Yakunan away for any hints to see if the wild-man was getting back up, "Keep your guards up everyone. I don't think he's finish yet."

As soon as those words left the scarecrow's mouth, the grey haired man came stumbling towards them with a busted open lip, a torn torso, and a drunken swagger in his step, "You bitch! You have no right to put your dirty hands on me!"

"I told ya my grandma hits harder than ya." Naruto chimed in absently, making Yakunan look at him with sheer rage in his eyes. The intent to exact vengeance on Naruto and Sakura was radiating off of Yakunan in spades!

"Lady Tsunade-sama didn't go easy on me. Or should I say: Naruto's 'Grandmamma' did not hesitate to whoop me around. And it's occasions like these that I can really put my training to the test. So there!" Sakura finished with her tongue stuck out at Yakunan.

"You are an annoying little girl I shall give you that." Yakunan groaned and Sakura let an innocent smile (that hid her malevolence) spread across her face while Yakunan shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a bag of white powder, putting everyone on high alert as he did so, just in case it turned out to be lethal.

"I don't think a bag of sugar is gonna help you win this fight." Kakashi quipped smugly, his visible eye was overshadowed by the bang of his hair, "Just face facts, and step aside. There's no way you can beat us. You're just delaying your inevitable death…" Kakashi elucidated in a grim tone of voice and Naruto cheered at his sensei's coolness.

Yakunan let a smirk grace his ugly features, "Oh. Is that your final remark?" The only response he got was the fact that Kakashi's serious look did not falter in the slightest. "It is your funeral then." Yakunan shoved the bag into his mouth and swallowed it instantaneously.

"Ewww, that's so nasty!" Sakura grimaced as she felt her skin crawl at seeing Yakunan devour a small plastic bag with a white substance into his mouth as if it were made for eating. Kakashi and Chiyo nodded their heads in agreement with the pink haired kuroichi.

"Okay, man. It's official. You've los-." Naruto started to say before a sickening purple coloured aura shrouded Yakunan's body in an intense burst that shook the ground a little bit. "Maybe I spoke too soon." Naruto shuddered as he and the others stared wide-eyed at the grey haired man while Yakunan's body seemingly morphed before their eyes, his shoulders popped out and spread out as if he had put on shoulders pads, his chest stretched out comprehensively in size while his legs grew longer.

"What in the world was that thing he just ate?" Chiyo questioned while she and the others stood in stiffened stances and watched with focused eyes and sweat falling off of their cheeks while the fiendish chakra swirled around Yakunan's body, and expanded it hugely, 'Such a sinister chakra that man has. It's in the top five most satanic chakras I've felt in my day.'

"I would like to know that myself lady Chiyo-sama." Kakashi mumbled, "My guess is, we're dealing with something on an extreme level. Definitely something by all rights should be forbidden."

"I guess that would make sense seeing as he's working for the akatsuki: a group full of S-rank missing ninja. He must be one too." Sakura swallowed nervously while the man-. No. The_ monster _towered over them all standing at a good 20ft tall with his long shoulders-like pads clear in view for the midgets in comparison to him to see. His trousers were tattered due to his drastic increase in height and only came to his knees. His skin was a dark purple colour while his veins were practically bursting out of his skin due to his oversized muscles, making him look like the hulk on steroids.

"He's like four Choujis put together." Naruto quipped as Yakunan gave him a wicked grin, showing him his now sharpened canines.

"**YOU WON'T LIKE ME WHEN I'M ANGRY!" **The hulk-possessed Yakunan raged as he charged in on Naruto, sending tremors through the air as his huge shadow loomed over the still confident Naruto's head.

"Naruto, be careful!" Kakashi shouted while Yakunan lifted his arm above his head at the speed most civilians could match (and even better), and aimed to smash Naruto down like a mole in the hole, hitting the ground which caused a massive crater to open up, as Naruto had speedily hopped into the air to avoid getting flattened like a pancake.

'Tsunade-baachan would still mess him up," Naruto thought while he landed on his feet and slid backwards to put some distance between him and the Godzilla-like beast of a man.

But then again a comparison between Yakunan and Tsunade just wasn't fair at all. That woman was different class when it came to hitting buildings and boulders into nothing but rubble and pebbles.

"His brute force has increased drastically," Chiyo breathed out as she, Kakashi, and Sakura struggled to keep their footings while the dirt ground was replaced by rubble from Yakunan hitting it like it was nothing.

Naruto shot a side-kick into Yakunan's head which snapped the big man's head up, but otherwise didn't do much to him. However, Naruto kept on coming relentlessly, repeatedly slamming his fists directly into Yakunan's rock hard ribs that felt like a boulder to the blond haired boy.

Naruto's sense of timing was spot on as Yakunan drove an overhead punch at him which he managed to dodge by swiftly leaping back while Yakunan deepened the crater he made moments ago.

"His defences have improved as well. Not exactly what we needed… but oh well." Kakashi lifted up his headband from over his left eye to reveal a familiar crimson eye to that of Itachi's with three irises inside of it and all. Chiyo looked at Kakashi with an appraising eye while the masked-man flashed through a series of hand-seals, charging chakra so powerful in his right palm it could not only be heard with the sound of many birds chirping in the distance but also seen in the form of blue lightning that created a ring of stuff around Kakashi's feet. Yakunan let out a bull snort while Kakashi simply disappeared from his and everyone else's (except Naruto) sights.

The birds that were singing violently from behind Yakunan let Sakura and Chiyo know where he had chosen to sprint to.

"Raikiri (Lightning cutter)!"

Kakashi shoved his lightning-coated hand directly into the back of Yakunan's heart with all the might he could muster, but he barely penetrated the hulk-man's defences no more than a mere five inches, which made blood come out of his back a bit.

"So his defences are ridiculously high." Kakashi noted in his usual nonchalance while Naruto ran at Yakunan like a street brawler before he had the chance to turn around and attack Kakashi for what the jounin had done to him.

Naruto did the criss-cross hand-sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (shadow clone technique)!" A burst of smoke obstructed Yakunan's view of Naruto as the blond made a chain of Naruto-clones that each trailed behind one another, starting with the original-Naruto who was in front. Naruto hopped into the air and over Yakunan's head where he grabbed hold of it. Then a clone of Naruto regurgitated what the blond had done only he ended up grabbing hold of the original's legs while another clone gripped its leg's, and so on and so forth until all the Naruto-clones had each other's legs (except for one) while the original held tightly onto Yakunan's head.

With grunts escaping the Narutos' mouths, they all managed to whip themselves forward and forcefully sent the minuscule giant flying across the campus like a soaring missile through rings of air while Sakura anticipated where Naruto would throw the mammoth of a man and how fast he would throw Yakunan in order to introduce the hulk-man with her fist.

"Excellent work Naruto." Sakura complimented Naruto brightly, making the blond blush while she lunged in on the flying Yakunan with a shout of, "Shannaro!" Her fist connected with Yakunan's nose resoundingly, sending the big man spiralling away into a different direction from the one Naruto and his clones had previously sent him on, "**CHA! Crazy muscles my ass! He's strength can't compare to mine." **A manifestation of Sakura-self sat in the deepest parts of her mind and cheered while outer Sakura remained level-headed.

'Good thing Tsunade's student's on our side. Even I'll admit… that girl is one wild tiger.' Chiyo thought with an impressed look on her old wrinkly-features while Kakashi gave Sakura an eye-smile after he got over his bewilderment from seeing Sakura basically smash a massive boulder away as if it were a mere fly, 'If Ebizo-otouto were here he would say the rivers of time are slowly passing us by.'

"Way to go Sakura! You're awesome!" Naruto cheered and Sakura flashed Naruto the 'peace sign' with a grin on her face.

xXx

(Ichigo vs. Tobi)

xXx

Ichigo flipped off of Tobi with the latter's hood falling off of his head to reveal his grey spiky hair while he was coated in an aura of blue like Ichigo, 'Reiryoku?' Ichigo thought in a puzzled manner as Tobi simply levitated onto his feet without even bending his body at the waist to do so, "Hmph. Show-off." that aside, "So you use your yin chakra, do you not?"

"You could elucidate it like that." Tobi replied in a vague manner, more or less confirming that he used his reiryoku to bring out his aura while using his reishi to power himself up in the air to engage Ichigo in combat. "Shall we continue?"

Ichigo let a feral smirk spread across his features, "Yes. Then afterwards you're gonna tell me everything about yourself. Including how you got that Sharingan eye of yours." Ichigo radiated confidence. "I doubt you're an Uchiha with that kind of power and knowledge you seem to possess."

"That's very observant of you, Ichigo-san." Tobi complimented Ichigo with a sadistic aura around him. "And yeah… I am not an Uchiha. I'm more along the lines of a _hybrid." _ Tobi fazed out and reappeared behind Ichigo with a step resembling a maneuver Ichigo knew all too well.

'…Sonido?' Ichigo's eyebrow was raised at the old man's apparent use of the hollows' speed technique before he shunpo'd in time to avoid a powerful horizontal strike from Tobi that made a shockwave that travelled all the way through the very ground itself since Tobi and Ichigo were in a massive crater the latter made by smashing the former into the ground. The shockwave made its way to the forest and knocked multiple trees down and made a pathway through the thick woods of the forest.

Ichigo had no time to ponder Tobi's techniques as the masked-man came straight back at him with another burst of 'sonido'. The two blurred around the wasteland amazedly, turning into nothing but two blinding blue lights that collided violently with each other and made huge amplified air waves that eradicated everything they came into contact with. Trees, boulders, and mountains turned into nothing but mere splinters and pieces of pebbles that scattered away in the intensity of the wind created by the two powerhouse warriors.

Ichigo's shirt practically dissolved from the shockwaves, revealing a black dragon tattoo printed on his back while he managed to catch Tobi right in the jaw with a front flip that launched Tobi all the way to the ocean and into it where he crashed to the bottom and separated the water momentarily.

Ichigo shunpo'd above the ocean and looked at it seriously, "C'mon Tobi. I know you're not finish from that simple kick. You're in there somewhere." Ichigo murmured as he held up his right hand and charged reiryoku on the palm of it. "Hado number 33: soukatsui." Ichigo's heart ached as he fired his personal favourite hado from his right palm in the form of a blue fire beam that rocketed towards the ocean at a ferocious pace.

It never pains any less when Ichigo did his tribute hado to Rukia…

xXx

(With Tobi)

xXx

"His energy's still very high. I need to drag the fight out much longer." Tobi murmured as he stood at the bottom of the ocean and looked up to see Ichigo's hado blast launching at him furiously, "I shall counter with precision." Tobi flashed through a series of hand-signs, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique)!" The fact that he was under water meant fuck all to Tobi as he shot an intense flame through his mask that morphed into a massive sphere of fire that drove through the water and turned that section of the ocean into a stream bath!

The fire ball of Tobi only made it to the top of the ocean before it connected with Ichigo's hado blast which resulted in a resounding explosion!

xXx

Ichigo sucked his teeth in annoyance. "He's still got the Uchiha-clan's signature jutsu down even if he isn't one." Ichigo grumbled as he watched from above while the stream covered a part of the ocean.

Tobi appeared before Ichigo in the same swirling black hole he did when he first teleported to Ichigo's location to dispose of the fodder formerly known of the granddaddy of all snakes: Koji. "Mine. Mine. Ichigo-san… you're quite the reminiscent one, aren't you?"

"You talk like you know me." Ichigo responded apathetically, taking notice that Tobi was seemingly standing on the air like he was, "Why don't you come out and tell me who you are already. And ya can take off that mask while you're at it as well unless you're afraid of getting ya old-ass face smashed in."

An evil chuckle escaped Tobi's lips, "You're quite the smartass, Ichigo Kurosaki. But if you must know who I am… let's just say I met a rather uncharacteristic Uchiha about fifteen years ago."

"I take it you murdered that Uchiha and took his eyes away, didn't ya?" Ichigo grimaced.

Tobi laughed unmercifully, "Negative. In a way, that is. In the sense that my comrade took quite the liking to the young Uchiha who was found crushed underneath a boulder. At least _some _of him was crushed by the boulder."

"You're not making any sense you dumb bastard!" Ichigo growled. "How could your comrade had taken a liking to the kid if he or she were flattened like a pancake?"

"Senju DNA is the way to go." Ichigo's eyes widened as Tobi clarified this, "Yes. We used the cells of Hashirama Senju to assure that the boy lived. And the Bottom-line is we convinced him to join the righteous side after he witnessed his long-time friend and rival, Kakashi, destroy his dear crush: Rin Nohara. The sight of his crush dying by his friend's hand awakened the power you just saw me use: Jikūkan Ninjutsu (Space Time Ninjutsu) within the boy. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect turn of events. We begin putting our plans to action in order to create a new world. Of course the boy was only an adolescent at the time and as such needed training to grow strong enough to be of use to us. By the time the boy was fourteen years old he had grown strong enough to hold his own against high level jounin opponents and could rip the Kyuubi out of the current jinchuuriki at the time Kushina Uzumaki. He did this with gusto but unfortunately lost control of the Kyuubi and was defeated resounding by Minato Namikaze. Minato sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi inside of his own son-. Well, I'm sure you can guess who that is."

"And what happened to the kid?" Ichigo questioned in a rhetorical manner, already knowing what happened to him before the words left his lips just like he knew that Naruto's mother was dead and living peacefully up in the Soul Society where all dead souls go.

"Fodder-san failed his mission. So fodder-san died. All that remains of the former Uchiha known as Obito Uchiha is this one Sharingan eye I took from him." Tobi elaborated with absolute no remorse for the way he manipulated a boy, and took his eye from him as if he were a broken toy with one invaluable piece on it.

"Tch… you bad guys never seem to disappoint my expectations. Always becoming more evil with each generation that passes by," Ichigo muttered with disgust evident all over his features as he held his reverse sword on his shoulder coolly. "But with that being said, there is something I would like to know."

"And what has piqued your interest Ichigo-san?"

"Where's the other eye?"

His question caught Tobi off-guard for a split second before Tobi regained his composure and offered a shrug of his shoulders, "An old friend of Obito has it. After all, I didn't say _all _of Obito was crushed now did I? No. The other eye of Obito remains with the one he gave it to, as a gift of sorts. I would've taken it but for the fact that its powers have been subconsciously suppressed by the one who couldn't handle the traumatizing experience of _woman_-slaughtering his friend. It's pretty sad, really, eh Ichigo-san."

"If one could overlook the fact that ya don't seem the least bit sorry for him ya sadistic bastard." Ichigo mumbled and Tobi shrugged carelessly, 'There's only one person I can think of who has this Obito's Sharingan from the words this cold son-of-a-bitch is saying. And that one person is…'

xXx

(Team Kakashi & Chiyo vs. Yakunan)

xXx

"Achoo!"

Kakashi simultaneously sneezed while he and Chiyo jumped out of the way from a crushing-punch the busted-open-but-still-going-Yakunan inflicted on the ground in their places, shattering it even more so than what it already was.

"Bless you Kakashi-san." Chiyo babbled as she jumped high into the air, and drove a elbow to Yakunan's temple, knocking the hulk-man off balance slightly, which was all the chance that Sakura needed to smash her empowered with chakra-fist straight into Yakunan's chest and send him skyrocketing away, 'That girl has some serious potential.' Chiyo thought while Kakashi looked at her with an eye-smile.

"Much obliged lady Chiyo-sama."

xXx

(Ichigo vs. Tobi)

xXx

Ichigo shook his head lightly. That dilemma was neither here nor there if Tobi's words were any indication. Of course once Kakashi awakened the next level of the Sharingan he was sure Tobi would gun for his eye and exterminate him just for the heck of it. The silver haired man would've to be protected when that day came.

"Oh and one more bit of information I believe you'd be interested in hearing before we continue with our little showdown." Tobi spoke up, making Ichigo look at him curiously, "One of my comrades molested Obito, because she rather liked him but he didn't like her back. So she decided to take things in her own hands, which was to rape Obito. He got _raped _exceedingly well too."

And that was the last straw that broke the camel's back so to speak.

With one shunpo, Ichigo appeared directly in front of Tobi where he smacked him into his chest and sent him blasting away while going through a series of rolls. Ichigo's eyes were overshadowed by the bangs of his hair as he vanished once again and reappeared above the soaring Tobi before he devastatingly whaled his elbow into the madman's chest.

A groan of pain echoed throughout the air from Tobi before Ichigo charged reiryoku through his reverse ninjato sword and slashed at Tobi's mask with a white shine appearing across it as an afterimage of sorts, making more sparks fly as if Ichigo's blade had met an island rather than a mask.

'What in the hell is that mask made out of?' Ichigo questioned himself as he drove his knee into Tobi's mask and felt like he was hitting indestructible steel. 'Tch… He must be channelling his reiryoku through his mask to harden its defences.' Ichigo concluded as the most likely assumption for Tobi's unbreakable mask before he got straight back to working Tobi's ribs over with a relentless amount of one-handed punches that forced Tobi to the surface of the water.

Ichigo channelled some reishi on the surface of the water to make a platform of sorts so he wouldn't fall in and get his sack bag ruined which somehow miraculously survived the fight between him and Tobi thus far.

Ichigo held up his two hands after sheathing his ninjato into his sash to use them on Tobi's chest as if the masked-man were some kind of punching bag. Groans of pain reverberated through the air while Tobi's body looked like it was vibrating from the force of Ichigo's blows, which sent the water splashing into the air as if huge sharks were leaping out of it.

Ichigo jumped off of Tobi and remorselessly booted him like an American footballer taking a penalty, sending Tobi launching through the air in the same manner before Ichigo set-off after him with the sound of a rocket taking off into space which echoed through the air as the aftermath of Ichigo's take-off.

Tobi struggled to get his bearings right as he barely managed to hang onto his fan. He held it at the ready, and blocked a fierce punch from Ichigo that made sparks of electricity fly between the fan of Tobi and the fist of Ichigo.

"You're quite the truculent one, eh Ichigo-san." Tobi stated. His ribs took a heavy beating from Ichigo's attacks as every time the masked-man so much as breathed he felt like someone was taking out a knife and stabbing him in the gut. Despite the minor setback Tobi still had sublime confident in his abilities to at the very least keep this fight going for thirty hours. 'The cards are in my hands.' Tobi could already feel his broken ribs slowly repairing themselves.

This man was the devil in disguise.

xXx

(Gai vs. Kisame)

xXx

The fight had been raging on for hours now amidst the strange tremors that quaked the ground and hurricanes that shattered most of the elevated rocks, luckily there were still a few more left for Pakkun to stand on and watch with worry as Gai got his ass handed to him by Kisame. They would've to count themselves lucky that Gai's teammates were ninjas otherwise they would be dead trapped within the domes of water made by the three Kisame-clones. But they were still only human and humans needed air, proven when Tenten collapsed onto her knees, concerning Neji.

'TENTEN!' Neji thought as he looked back out at the fight to see that the original Kisame had Gai trapped underneath the water with sharks he made from his chakra to feast on Gai's flesh. 'This isn't good. Tenten can't survive much longer. Come on Gai-sensei. You have to win.'

Lee noticed Tenten on her knees, 'Tenten!' Lee punched the dome of water he was in as hard as he could to no avail whatsoever. 'No. If we don't get out of here we'll run out of air eventually.'

'I wish I could help, but I would only get in the way,' Pakkun thought solemnly, digging his paws into the rock he was on.

"There we go lads. Enjoy a tasty snack." Kisame grinned wickedly as he stood above the surface of the water and watched Gai squirm around while the sharks continuously bit his back-side, face, stomach, arms, legs and anywhere they could sink their razor-sharp teeth in. "Third meal."

xXx

'This isn't good. My youthful team won't be able to last in those water-jails much longer, and I can't keep getting bitten like this.' Gai started as he desperately tried to shake off the sharks, but the blue sparkling chakra creatures just kept on coming at him mercilessly, 'It appears I have no choice in the matter. I will have to use _that_ jutsu in order to rescue myself and my team from this fate.'

Blood poured out of Gai's skin and polluted the ocean as the sharks came back for their third meal. Using the bit of free time the sharks unintentionally gave him, Gai crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes, channelling his chakra to release a greater power, 'First Gate: Gate of Opening, opened…'

xXx

Neji looked at the Kisames intently after activating his byakugan. 'I've got to find their weak spot and use my Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) to free us from this abomination of a jutsu.' Neji thought as he set himself in his jyuuken stance and saw the three Kisames' chakra network as clear as day, 'Find the weak point, aim, and strike.'

xXx

The Second Gate: Gate of Healing, the third Gate: Gate of Life, and the fourth Gate: Gate of Pain were now all opened which in return caused Gai to feel severe pain while his skin turned crimson red in colour as if he had just gone Kaioken! And he wasn't done yet.

'Fifth Gate: Gate of Limit, opened.' Gai's power and speed increased abnormally, "SIXTH GATE: GATE OF WONDER…OPENED!" Gai roared as an enormous amount of chakra was released from him that created a vortex of sorts around his body, "SEVENTH GATE: GATE OF WONDER…OPENED!" A green aura swirled powerfully around Gai's body as Konoha no Kedakaki Aoi Mōjū (Konoha's sublime beast of prey) took his nickname to heart and sublimely spring-boarded himself with so much force out of the water, it propelled a stunned Kisame high up in the sky.

'Gai-sensei's opened the gates!' Lee exclaimed in shock and awe at his sensei's power while Neji merely done his own jutsu to free themselves from the domes of water Kisame's clones held them in.

"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!" Neji lashed out at the Kisames' chakra network with many blinding palm strikes that dispensed the clones and freed them from their water prisons.

"Terrific work Neji-san! I appreciate the help!" Lee inhaled a huge breath while Neji merely caught Tenten before she fell into the water.

"How are you holding up, Tenten?" Neji questioned with concern colouring his voice while the girl in question wheezed with her facial complexion turning back to its normal light-tanned one after it turned purple from her holding her breath in the water dome for so long. 'Any longer, and she would've been a goner…'

"Yeah… I'm fine now. Thanks Neji." Tenten panted weakly, appreciation clearly evident in her voice.

Neji nodded his head before looking up at Kisame. "He's using _that _jutsu. That's a wise choice indeed." Kisame wouldn't survive that even in a million years.

Kisame soared through the air with Gai in front of him with a content look on his features, 'I've played my part. And it was worth it getting to play with Maito Gai again. Next time Samehada and I shall cut him to ribbons when we meet up again.' A continuous barrage of fists of fury from the red-skinned-aura-emitting man nailed Kisame and scorched him with the flames coming off of Gai's fists!

"Asa Kujaku (Morning Peacock)!"

Gai's teammates and Pakkun gawked at the fiery assault from Gai on Kisame before Gai practically took his head off with one booming punch that powered 'Kisame' down to the ground through rings of air while the ocean disappeared and turned into the rocky area it once was… a ruined one at that of course.

"Phew. It's finally over." Pakkun sighed in relief while Gai landed on his feet and strolled over to the prone form of 'Kisame' to see if he could now remember who the hell that madman with the crazy charka-levels off of the charts was. He made sure to retrieve his nunchaku which he dropped sometime while he was fighting Kisame to put back into his backpack.

"I never thought these Akatsuki guys could be _that_ powerful." Tenten breathed out as she stood up on her own after sucking in as much air as possible.

"I concur. It also leads me to believe there's someone else who's even more powerful than the man Gai-sensei fought pulling the strings behind the scene." Neji drawled out with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Is it because of those strange shockwaves that were occurring while Gai-sensei and that man were fighting, Neji-san?" Lee questioned.

Neji nodded his head simply, "Affirmative Lee. It's incomprehensible to even assume that someone has the prowess to cause such devastating effects to the environment around them." He looked around absently, byakugan still activated, "No sign of any chakra signatures in a 100 miles radius. We're dealing with something on a whole level."

Tenten gulped down a lump in her throat in a nervous manner, "If any other akatsuki member are even half as strong as the one radiating power so strong it can be felt from all the way over here, we're gonna be in big trouble if we run into them."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Tenten." Neji eased the girl's worries level-headedly, "It is mere speculation at this point. But the fact remains that man barely flinched despite the fact the ground was quaking from an unknown source. It has me believing that there's only a select few with that kind of power within their little gang of hoodlums."

Pakkun walked over to them and chimed in his guess, "I smelled a strong chakra signature coming from a guy tagging along with Kakashi's team before I left out to locate the Akatsuki's hideout."

Lee's eyes widened, "One of Kakashi-san's students has that kind of splendid power?"

Pakkun shook his head, "No. He didn't have a headband on him nor did he dress like an actual ninja, more along the lines of a civilian. But he had a very strong chakra stench for a sensory type ninja. At least that's what Kakashi called him."

"This man sounds very cryptic." Neji murmured. "Did you get his name?" A shake of the head came from Pakkun. "In any case I'm positive we'll find out more about that man once we meet up with Team Kakashi."

Lee nodded his head exuberantly, "Yes! I shall be glad to meet such a formidable ally and introduce him to the wonderful ways of youth!"

Tenten let out a sigh before she noticed that Gai was trapped in something of a stupor with a mixture of bewilderment and thoughtfulness on his face. "What is it Gai-sensei?" The others noticed Gai's look and followed Tenten over to him to see the dilemma laid before Gai's feet. "Who is that?"

Some random fodder-man lay flat-out in the crater Gai supposedly smashed him into when he was disguised as the shark-man of the organization. The big blade he once had was now no more than a mere kunai that lied lifelessly at the man's side. None of the members of Team Gai or Pakkun could fully comprehend the bizarreness of the situation or the power it took to activate such a jutsu to use a poor cannon-fodder as a human puppet to fight guys that were out of his league. And the only thing Gai could say that assured his team of one thing was as followed…

"…I definitely don't know who that man is."

xXx

(With Kisame and Itachi)

xXx

"Well that was a blast eh Itachi." Kisame grinned but received no response from the stoic Uchiha as he reopened his eyes on the tree-stump he was sitting-legged on the whole time where he and Samehada channelled their chakras so the man and his puny kunai would resemble them and have a bit of their powers, "Itachi?"

Kisame quirked an eyebrow once he seen Itachi's eyes closed with his hands held in the ram sign, "Did ya lose already Itachi? I can't imagine the great Uchiha losing so early even with 30% of his chakra in use to someone else." He would find out once he reported back to the guys, "I wouldn't be surprised to see Tobi-sama there too. I would hate to be the poor sucker fighting him."

Either way, their victory was assured today.

xXx

(Chiyo & Team Kakashi vs. The Hulk)

xXx

"…I'm pooped you guys, I don't think I could go another round." Sakura panted with her hands on her knees as she leaned against one of the few trees that weren't destroyed from the Hulk's rampage.

There must've been dozen of new pathways Sakura had created by smashing Yakunan through the trees, and numerous of craters from Yakunan punching the ground with Team Kakashi and Chiyo tactically retreating to put some distance from the insane man and them. But the more Sakura's super punches and Kakashi's jutsus hit the man the more enraged he became!

He was like a man on a mission that would not let up no matter how much he bled from the numerous attacks he received from the Godaime Hokage's student and his own ridiculous sized muscles busting open on him.

Chiyo leaned next to Sakura and panted heavily, "This roughneck sure doesn't want to quit. I'm too old to be dodging his wild swings at us."

Naruto formed a clone and had it wave its hands around his hand while Kakashi kept the lunatic man busy for the time being. 'We got no time for this man! We have to get to Gaara!' Naruto growled as a swirling blue ball of condense chakra started spinning rapidly on the palm of his hand like a washing machine totally out of control! "Get outta the way Kakashi-sensei! I'm gonna blast this nut-job all the way back to the academy!" Naruto quipped.

Kakashi nodded his head and skilfully back-flipped into the air with the grace of that of a gymnastic performer while flashing through a series of hand-seals, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!" A fire ball the size of a boulder ghosted through Kakashi's mask after the jounin placed his index finger and thumb by his mouth to launch it out and at Yakunan.

"**GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" **Yakunan let out a beastly growl while the flames of Kakashi's jutsu covered him like a cloak of armour that scorched the one that wore it instead of protecting said person, "**ME MAD NOW! ME'LL GET REVENGE ON WORLD!" **The lunatic-hulk-man tussled violently to shake the annoying (rather than hurtful) pain off. And there was still more to come as Yakunan felt like a chainsaw was grinding into his back with ferocity.

"Rasengan!"

The big man was sent flying through rings of air from Naruto delivering his signature jutsu into his back with such force it left a swirl mark into his shall-like skin. A mini tremor rocked the very ground itself once Yakunan touched the ground and bounced up a bit as if he were on a bouncy castle getting shattered like glass the moment the lunatic-man made contact with it.

"I'm getting a little tired myself here sensei." Naruto wheezed with a humble air around him as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

Kakashi hummed in agreement with Naruto, sighing inwardly once he noticed the badly blooded up Yakunan stumbling to his feet with floating stars appearing before his eyes, "It doesn't look like Sakura and lady Chiyo-sama will be continuing on in this endless quest to subdue this beast." Kakashi remarked, looking at Sakura and Chiyo, "We going to need to finish him off with one strike. Preferably one that has the destructive capacity to take down a building or two, like lady Tsunade-sama's punches has."

A sudden light bulb appeared on top of Naruto's head comically, "That's it!" Naruto idly noticed the light bulb on top of his head, 'What's that thing doing there? I don't remember sticking a light-bulb in my brain.' He broke the light-bulb into little pieces and looked at Kakashi, "Pervy sage helped me further advanced my Rasengan with the use of-. Well, ya' know…" Naruto trailed off, touching his belly.

"That's actually very clever, Naruto. The Yondaime Hokage would be proud of you for making his technique your own one." Kakashi complimented with an eye-smile and Naruto grinned sheepishly, "Ready to slay this beast and move on to rescue Gaara kiddo?"

"Dattebayo!" Naruto roared. 'It's time to pay the rent fur-ball.' Naruto quipped.

"**You're so pathetic. You actually need my power to take out a little weakling like him? Unacceptable. You should just release me on him and I'll eat him up**** like the ant**** that he is!" **Kyuubi growled beastly.

Naruto rolled his eyes, 'Yeah, yeah. I get it! 'I'm so weak and you're so powerful', and Blah, blah, blah, blah. We can argue about this some other time asshole. Right now I've got a raging Chouji who's out for revenge because someone ate the last chip of his crisp to blow away, ya' know. So give me some chakra damn it!'

xXx

(Konohagakure no Sato)

xXx

A tall muscular boy with 30% of it being fat suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason while he was conveniently reaching for the last chip of his packet of crisp he bought from the shop. It started to descend excruciatingly to the ground. The boy had long brown spiky hair falling to his upper back with red swirl marks on each of his cheeks. He was taking a day-off from training to walk around the village so he wore a casual blue kimono suit held closed by a black sash tied around his waist. And black sandals were on his feet.

The powerful-looking boy rubbed his nose with a sniffle, "For some odd reason I feel like I want to kick my old friend Naruto Uzumaki's ass." He casually caught his chip before it completed its descent to the ground and would otherwise be no good to eat before he shoved it into his mouth. He then laughed good-naturedly, "That's just silly. I haven't seen Naruto since he took off on his training trip with his master. I wonder what he's doing now." He fondly concluded, walking off once again…

…Just letting his feet take him where ever he wanted to go.

xXx

(Kakashi & Naruto vs. Yakunan)

xXx

Naruto shivered involuntarily, suddenly feeling like he should strengthen his home security for extra protection. 'Creepy, the ghosts must be in the air.' He started as he excessed Kyuubi's chakra as the fox was bored at that point and just wanted his jinchuuriki to end the rampaging man's existence.

"He's coming Naruto." Kakashi stated as he watched Yakunan stroll towards them as Naruto's eyes turned into fierce red slits while his whisker-marks darkened and his teeth turned into canines, "If there were ever a time to unleash your new jutsu, it's now kiddo." Kakashi flashed through a series of hands-signs, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!"

Naruto nodded his head fiercely, creating another clone while Kakashi shot a massive fire ball at Yakunan to halt his progress and get him to tussle and turn in a bit of agony, giving Naruto the chance to form a basketball-sized Rasengan on his hand before he ran straight at Yakunan with the clone helping him sustain the power of his upgraded-jutsu since the two held it between themselves.

Yakunan managed to get the last bit of Kakashi's jutsu off of him in time to see Naruto and his clone slam the large tennis ball of chakra into his abdomen devastatingly, "**AAAAAHHHHHH! OHHHHH SHITTTTTTT!" **Yakunan finally knew the true meaning of pain even in his drugged-up form before the powered-up Rasengan basically shrouded him in an excruciating aura that sent him flying back while his insides and skin were shredded like grilled onions!

"Oodama Rasengan!"

Sakura and Chiyo watched in amazement as Naruto introduced his new move in some style, lighting up the area in a shiny grow, with the power of his Oodama Rasengan forcefully blowing the bangs of Chiyo's and Sakura's hairs all over the place.

"Whoa… what power." Chiyo awed.

"Surely he can't survive a jutsu like that." Sakura spoke.

A minuscule explosion occurred before Naruto dropped to his knees, panting heavily, the fox's chakra receding hence where it came from which made his features turn back to normal.

"You did good Naruto." Kakashi complimented and Naruto smiled weakly, struggling to catch his breath while Kakashi covered up his Sharingan-eye with his headband and walked over to check on the motionless Yakunan to make sure he was truly done for.

"He sure managed to keep us here long enough." Chiyo noticed that the sun had started to set, leaving the sky ablaze in an orange colour, "The akatsuki pick their pawns wisely I see." Chiyo spat while she and Sakura walked over to Naruto.

Naruto stood up, still wheezing heavily, "No time like the present then. We gotta get to Gaara right now." Sakura nodded her head before she idly noticed something. She was wearing the clue at the end of the day.

"Where the hell's Ichigo?"

Good question.

Kakashi looked at the severely burned corpse of Yakunan whose body had transformed back into its normal state with blood covering his busted open body from head to toe. "It's an extreme jutsu indeed. It had to be. Whatever this man ate sure worked in spades, seeing as he was charging at us like a bull that ran on steroids." Kakashi quipped nonchalantly, shaking his head before walking back to the others, "We're done here. Let's continue on our way to the akatsuki's hideout. We've already wasted enough time as it is dealing with that ape of a man."

"What about Ichigo, Kakashi-sensei? He still hasn't returned to us yet." Naruto crossed his arms and squinted his eyes, "You think that jerk has betrayed us."

Kakashi shook his head carelessly, "I don't think that's the case. He must be fighting someone of extreme power right at this very moment. That's the only possible explanation I can think of for the shockwaves that were occurring before." Naruto gulped as he remembered them well.

"It's frightening to think someone could go toe to toe with Ichigo and delay _him _for this long." Sakura trembled as she subconsciously hugged Ichigo's windbreaker closer to her body.

"As long as Ichigo's delaying them then we won't have to deal with them. In essence they'd surely deal with us." Kakashi stated in a laid-back manner, getting everyone to widen their eyes in realization. "Alright. Operation rescue the kazekage is officially in gear once again. Let's go." Sakura, Naruto, and Chiyo shook off their stupors and followed Kakashi along the ground with their speed significantly slower due to the energy they used up fending off and dodging Yakunan's attacks for the past ten hours.

It was a race against time now.

xXx

(Akatsuki's hideout)

xXx

"…Kisame. I trust you either dealt with the nuisances accordingly, or taught the rats the definition of pain." Leader-sama breathed out impassively after Kisame's hologram reappeared where it had left hours ago.

"They eventually took out my puppet. But it would seem mine one done a lot better than Itachi's, eh Itachi?" Kisame questioned the Uchiha with a wryly grin on his face.

Itachi didn't even grace Kisame with a look as he closed his eyes, "Your assumption is near accurate Kisame-san."

"What he means is there was someone with power oddly strong enough to give lord Tobi-sama a good battle. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki apparently, and he defeated Itachi-san's puppet with a mere flare of his energy he called 'reiatsu'." Konan elucidated.

Kisame raised an eyebrow, "Hmm. I wonder if this 'Ichigo' is giving Tobi-sama a hard time."

"Lord Tobi-sama would not struggle with a mere human of any kind. Lord Tobi-sama shall win and Ichigo'll lose. It is as simple as playing a game of shogi." Konan elaborated.

"You seem to have a lot of confidence in 'Tobi', hmm." Deidara grinned.

Konan turned her head to grace him with a look of a goddess, "What would that imply Deidara-san? I am merely displaying gratitude to lord Tobi-sama who assisted us greatly in making our little organization."

"Tobi has piqued my interest." The hologram beside Hidan admitted. "I'm curious why he would not show himself if he were always head and shoulders above the rest of us."

"Tch… he's not above me Kakuzu." Hidan resorted with a suck of his teeth.

"Silence is now issued." Leader-sama commanded, staring down at Gaara, "Tobi-dono prefers to operate in the shadows, allowing his subordinates to work on the front-lines until he feels it's necessary to step out once again. This 'Ichigo' has explicably given him a reason to unleash his power; otherwise we wouldn't even know he fought today." Everyone nodded their heads as they were more focused on ripping the Bijuu out of Gaara's body.

A powerful ally or boss couldn't be the worst thing to happen to their little group.

xXx

(Hours Later - Ichigo vs. Tobi)

xXx

Flashes of bright lights lit up the darkness of the sky, and even separated the water as they morphed into many domes that were spread all over the ocean caused by the ferocious showdown between the overwhelmingly powerful titans that were Ichigo and Tobi. One gnashed his teeth clearly, while the other one seemingly remained nonchalant as they blocked and parried each other's rapid attacks of punches and/or kicks with their weapons sheathed for the moment.

The fight ascended up the ocean with the light-domes of the two warriors' auras seemingly trailing behind with every fist that connected with the other one resoundingly. Upon reaching a deserted island Ichigo round-house kicked Tobi straight into his ribs, sending the masked-man across the rocky island of which they stumbled upon.

Ichigo scrutinized their (Ichigo's & Tobi's) surroundings, "Perfect. I did not want anyone getting in the way of the ass-beating I'm about to inflict on this scumbag." Ichigo held out his finger once again and channelled his reiryoku on the tip of it before holding it out like a gun at the soaring away Tobi with tiny bits of reiryoku forming together on his finger to make a blue orb appear on the tip of it with a humming noise echoing throughout the air, "Hado Number 99: Reigan (Spirit Gun)!" The hado blast of Ichigo was launched from the orange haired man's finger before the orange haired man let a feral smirk spread across his face.

As Tobi soared forcefully through many elevated rocks, he was barely able to get his bearings right to see Ichigo's Reigan closing the distance between him and it speedily, "Hasn't he already learnt this won't work on me." Upon unsheathing his fan from his back swiftly, Tobi prepared to absorb Ichigo's move and fire it back at him until a certain blur halted him from doing so.

"Shadousutoraiku: Yaban tora (Shadow Strike: Savage Tiger)!"

Ichigo had shunpo'd behind him and immediately set himself in a tiger stance by way of martial arts before he unleashed the huge tiger entity on Tobi before the masked-man had the chance to absorb the Reigan closing in on him.

Tobi smirked underneath his mask as he kept his fan held up, "Very clever, but unfortunately that won't work on me." Tobi unleashed his aura as the tiger-entity penetrated it and caused multiple sparks to fly all over the place while the Reigan was sucked into his fan yet again just as an explosion erupted from the tiger of Ichigo and the aura of Tobi fighting for dominance.

Ichigo stared at the smoke blowing the bangs of his hair to the side impassively, "Tch. Leave it to him to figure out a way to counter that situation." The smoke cleared up to reveal Tobi standing in a crater coated in a blue aura while his fan pulsed brightly, "Yep. That's reiryoku isn't it Tobi?"

Tobi aimed the fan at Ichigo, "Wouldn't you like to know." He fired Ichigo's Reigan at him and watched as the orange haired immortal backhanded it to the side where it crashed into a mountain and destroyed it upon impact. "Oh mine. I do believe our fight has escalated onto a whole other level."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock," Ichigo deadpanned. "You haven't seen nothing yet Tobi." Ichigo stated as he hardened his gaze at Tobi.

"Oh really, I guess I can assume Wild Tiger-san has some other tricks in the bag to deal with me." Tobi replied smugly.

Ichigo shunpo'd behind Tobi. "Talk is cheap, right Tobi? It's time for action." Ichigo slashed at Tobi's neck, making Tobi roll forward to dodge the attack before he came right back at him with a low kick that had Ichigo jumping up to avoid it. Upon touching the ground Ichigo twirled his sword around to attack Tobi once again, but the masked-man vanished from sight with his space-time ninjutsu.

Ichigo threw his sword behind his back and blocked a furious slam by Tobi with his sword that sent sparks and tremors flowing through the air. Tobi shot a low kick in an attempt to sweep Ichigo off of his feet, but Ichigo flipped forward into a roll before hopping back to his feet untouched. And with the intensity of a tiger, and the grace of a swan, Ichigo charged Tobi down and let loose with a seemingly infinite amount of slash attacks that had Tobi swiftly swaying his body in any direction to avoid them.

Tobi then blocked a blow from Ichigo with his fan and both used the momentum of the sudden collision to rocket themselves away from each other before they each touched a couple of elevated rocks faced opposite to each other and used them to spring-board themselves at the other, leaving the rocks to shatter into nothing.

The elbow of Tobi met the foot of Ichigo in an intense collision which resulted in a shockwave opening a huge crater in the ground before the two pushed away from each other with Tobi turning his head to gaze upon the night sky with sparkling stars, 'There's still twenty eight hours left to go before the sealing of the Ichibi no Tanuki is complete. I'll have to play a game of cat and mouse with Ichigo-san to buy more time.'

Ichigo ripped off his torn t shirt with a scowl on his features, 'I'm gonna have to call upon my Zanpakutos to erase this guy from existence. If he stays alive he'll be another Aizen… only more insane.' Ichigo raised an eyebrow once he seen Tobi raise a hand up for something of a truce. "Giving up, eh, Tobi?"

"That would be the straightforward way to explain my reasons, Ichigo-san." Tobi then sheathed his fan and quickly flashed through a series of hand-signs that made Ichigo put up his guard just in case Tobi tried anything funny, "This duel is over for now, just relax Ichigo-san." Ichigo didn't like the feel or the stench of the satanic chakra pouring out of Tobi's back to form two huge sickening phoenix-wings, "Katon: Akuma no Tsubasa (Fire Release: Wings of the Devil)…" Tobi's massive wings spread out and lifted Tobi off of the ground. "Time's a wasting Ichigo-san. So I'm afraid I must be going off to rape some girls and destroy dozens of villages just for my amusement."

"No you're not you bastard! Get back here and take your beating like a man!" Ichigo roared as he shunpo'd above Tobi only to miss-hit his swing as Tobi disappeared from sight with only small cuts in his seemingly indestructible black cloak. "Damn it! He's going to hurt innocent people if I don't stop him!" Ichigo growled as he desperately tried to locate Tobi's power-level to no avail. "Damn that despicable cockroach! I will find him before he hurts anyone!"

Ichigo calmed himself down remarkably, and at the ease of a highly skilled warrior looked around the air for a hint to where Tobi could've took off at blinding speed. His eyes eventually caught the site of faint traces of fire left behind by Tobi's powerful jutsu. "So he took off in the far west direction eh. Okay, kitty cat can run but he can't hide from the wild tiger!" Ichigo shunpo'd out of the existence in a bid to intercept Tobi before he killed someone.

The orange haired protector would just have to leave the rescue mission in the hands of the others for now.

xXx

(With Team Kakashi and Chiyo)

xXx

Kakashi could see Naruto huffing deeply as the blond haired boy ran at his side and was struggling to take the lead due to his energy being zapped from using the Oodama Rasengan to end the fodder's existence. 'That jutsu used up a lot of Naruto's chakra. And I'm not exactly doing too well myself either.' He looked behind his shoulder to see Chiyo and Sakura a distance away from them both inhaling and exhaling intensely.

This was bad.

"Stop!" Kakashi halted their progress, "We're gonna set up camp right here tonight and continue on our way in a few hours. Recuperation is of the utmost importance right now."

Chiyo nodded her head tiredly, "Yes, I'm afraid to admit that man played his role in the grand scheme of things quite well. At the pace we're moving at now, we would have no chance of reaching Gaara in time."

"But we can't sleep, Gaara needs us!" Naruto insisted as he placed his hands on his knees and wheezed with sweat falling off of his forehead.

Kakashi looked at Naruto sadly, "Naruto. Since we fought that man our pace has become significantly slower. Add to the fact we more than likely will end up fighting again when we arrive at the akatsuki's hideout. We're gonna need all of our strength for that." Naruto nodded his head reluctantly while Sakura took out her sleeping bag and got in it while still wearing Ichigo's windbreaker.

Sleep comes first damn it.

xXx

(With Team Gai)

xXx

"Are you okay Gai-sensei?" Tenten panted while they jumped from tree branch to tree branch at a noticeably slower speed than before.

Gai looked at her with a beaming smile on his features, "What are you so concerned about Tenten? There's nothing the power of youth can't reinvigorate. I'll be ju-." Gai's sentence ended right there as he crashed into a tree branch and fell from the trees onto the ground in an unconscious heap.

"GAI-SENSEI!" Lee yelled as they jumped down from the trees to see Gai passed out on the floor.

"Oh brother, I asked him was he okay, and he still says he's fine just to jump head first into a tree branch…" Tenten sighed.

"Cut him some slack Tenten. He did use the Asa Kujaku (Morning Peacock). It's understandable he'd be exhausted after that." Neji defended and Tenten nodded her head. "We'll recover our strength here for a few hours."

"Good idea. I've got a grave feeling you're all gonna need it tomorrow," Pakkun groused.

xXx

(Hours Later - Elsewhere – Location Unknown – End of the Line)

xXx

In a realm of nothing but pour white stood a dying boy with a half-lidded expression on his face. He looked around the white realm he was in with something of semblance to acceptance in his eyes, "So, this is the end for me…" The red haired boy noted monotonously, picturing the very people whom he strived to make acknowledge him.

"Why? Why'd I desire their acceptance?" He wondered to himself, and his answer came in the form of a blond haired, blue-eyed, orange and blue-jumpsuit wearing boy with a grin on his whiskered-features, "That's right. I wanted to be like him." He held out his hand to little Naruto, "He changed me for the better, showed me I could be loved like him. He was the inspiration I needed to get to where I was." The image of Naruto faded away in the dust of the wind as the red haired boy felt his very essence slipping away from him.

"And now… my life ends with no regrets. Thank you. Naruto Uzumaki."

xXx

(Sunagakure no Sato)

xXx

Kankuro lay on his bed with his arms folded behind his head as he thought things over, staring up at the ceiling and picturing himself with his two siblings, Temari and Gaara, in Gaara's office with the red haired boy doing some paperwork while he and Temari teased him about being the 'big cheese' in charge. It was enough to almost bring tears to Kankuro's eyes before he stubbornly wiped them away with the back of his hand. Ichigo said he would bring his brother back right? So that had to have meant something, right?

*SMASH*

Kankuro jolted up from his bed from the sound of glass hitting the floor. He looked down to a picture frame faced-down after it inexplicably fell down on the ground, 'That's never a good sign.' Kankuro thought as he picked up the picture to reveal it was one of him and Temari on either side of Gaara who was dressed in his kazekage robes. Kankuro would've smiled at the memory of them getting the picture taken if Gaara's place in the picture wasn't cracked in particular. As much as he wanted to deny what it meant, he knew in his heart of hearts why, the logical part of him sadly knew the reason for the cracked glass…

Gaara was dead.

"OTOUTO-SAMA!"


	6. It's All In The name Of Justice!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto or Anything. I'm pretty confident that Naruto wouldn't be a Sasuke-fanboy if I did own Naruto. Ya' know Naruto's a Sasuke-fanboy. He let that insolent red-head Karui beat the crap out of him all for Sasuke. Then he grovelled to the Raikage to not take the justified action against Sasuke. I'm not even gonna get into the whole hyperventilating scene. Speaks volumes for itself.**

**And Naruto used to be my favourite character even above Yusuke and Ichigo! Not anymore.**

**Question: Who do you prefer out of Bleach's members of the overhyped Espada and/or Naruto's members of the fearsome Akatsuki. In my personal opinion I thought that the Akatsuki were better. I didn't particularly like any member of the Espada except for one.**

"**HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" He laughed manically as he repeatedly used Ichigo's face as a human-punching bag. Since when'd Ichigo become Krillin? *Shakes head* Inconsistent Strawberry. *smiling* I still love him though. (no homo), but I digress.**

**Anyway, who did you ****honestly ****prefer between the colourful Espada or the fearsome Akatsuki?**

**Also, Bleach has gone ****on a five week hiatus. Kubo needs a break. He's been on super-form lately, only slip up I can see was that Unohana vs. Kenpachi fight. Sub-par. I couldn't tell what the fuck was going on. And one of the manga sites messed up the tran****slation. It had Unohana saying, "Do you want to know a dirty little secret " Whoa. Back up. Since when'd this turn into a make-out session.**

**Then Unohana goes Bankai, slash, slash, parry, parry, Kenpachi - stabbed Unohana in her gut. Kenpachi: "NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME YET! I HAVEN'T GOT MY FIX!" That was funny.**

**Other than that Bleach has been wonderful to read. Juha Bach's got one up on Madara Uchiha in my book. He's getting shit done. You know what I'm saying? I would've preferred Madara if he actually killed the kages, but ya' know, turns out they're alive still. **

**Madara or Juha Bach?**

**Juha Bach hands down for me.**

* * *

**Chapter Six: It's All In The name Of Justice!**

A slight thud sounded out in the dark lair of the akatsuki's hideout.

No one could see the chain on Gaara's corpse.

The lunatic member of the akatsuki that claimed he could not die let out a sigh of relief, "Phew. Glad that shit's over and done with. My lord Jashin gonna demand several sacrifices of me for sitting on my ass, and basically doing nothing all this time."

Leader-sama glanced down at Gaara's corpse with his legendary eyes that held no emotion in them before speaking up, "You've all done well. It served a purpose in ripping the Ichibi no Tanuki out of the kazekage. Now all that is left to do is for Deidara and Sasori to teach the Konoha-ninja the definition of _pain _and take the Kyuubi-jinchuuriki from them."

Sasori couldn't help but let out a laugh that was not only filled with arrogance but also malice that the same time, "But of course. Once they stop wasting our time and come to us already we'll see to it that the Kyuubi-jinchuuriki gets sealed into a scroll. We'll put him into storage until the other Bijuus are rounded up first. That's the way it operates, right?"

Leader-sama nodded his head firmly, "Affirmative. We won't be able to seal the Kyuubi into the Gedō Mazō-statue until the bijuus two to eight tails are locked within the confines of the Gedō Mazō-statue, otherwise it would disrupt the balance."

Sasori let out a beastly laugh, "What a shame. But at least I'll have new toys to play with and add to my collection of _art."_

"Not unless I blow them asunder for the artistic shape and pattern of the fiery detonation my man." Deidara grinned sadistically.

Sasori ignored him in favour of turning to Itachi, "Itachi…" Itachi didn't look at him but did not response either, prompting Sasori to continue, "The Kyuubi-jinchuuriki… what is he like?" He felt a sick sense of satisfaction asking the man whose was tasked with the responsibility of bringing in the Kyuubi-jinchuuriki such a question.

Itachi merely dropped his hands out of the ram sign before Leader-sama urged him to speak up, "Go on Itachi. Any and all information could be vital to the course of capturing the Kyuubi-jinchuuriki."

Itachi closed his eyes, "He is the one that crashes the party, and brings the attention onto him."

"Doesn't he have any better descriptions than party-poopers, hmm?" Deidara asked while Sasori looked at Itachi weirdly.

"I would hate to think what half-assed description he would give us of that Ichigo Kurosaki-guy if by some miracle he defeats Tobi." Sasori bellowed.

"It is impossible for Lord Tobi-sama to be defeated by lowly scum of the planet such as _Ichigo_." Konan informed them with a hint of strong confidence in her words and on her usual emotionless face. Such audacity of him to even make the suggestion that _lord _Tobi-_sama_ would be subdued by low-class trash such as Ichigo.

The guy was named after a strawberry for heaven's sake. How pathetic was that in Konan's blinded opinion?

"There's goes that confidence you have in Tobi, hmm." Deidara responded with a deadpan look aimed at Konan, receiving an annoyed grunt from Konan.

"That's enough. Just stick to your own task and Tobi-dono shall stick with his." Leader-sama broke in, breaking the tension before it could erupt further, "Also, assure that the trash is taken out and probably disposed of, failure is _not _an option." 'Tobi-dono dislikes useless tools.' Leader-sama added as an afterthought.

Deidara and Sasori jumped off of their finger-statues and onto the ground with Deidara landing perfectly on 'the trash' that was the red-headed kazekage's dead-body, "Yeah, yeah, consider it done my man."

"Excellent. It should be awhile until the Konoha-teams break in here. They still have to remove the five-seal barrier Tobi created. That should separate them in half and in return make your job that much easier." Leader-sama spoke up, "The rest of you are dismissed for now. We shall reassemble once Kakuzu and Hidan capture the Nibi-jinchuuriki." That got a grin from ear to ear from Hidan and a smirk from Kakuzu before the immortal pair along with the rest of the akatsuki disappeared from existence with the Gedō Mazō-statue in tow, leaving Deidara and Sasori alone with the body of one Gaara of the desert.

xXx

(With Itachi and Kisame)

xXx

Kisame and Itachi reopened their eyes, "Are you sure you're alright with this? After all, the Kyuubi-jinchuuriki was your target?" Kisame asked Itachi.

Itachi stood up off of the tree-stump, tucking his left arm into his cloak to leave his left-sleeve hanging loose while sticking his left hand out of his cloak as if his arm was broken, "It is of no concern to me Kisame-san. As long as Naruto-kun is captured it shall be fine."

Kisame let out a chuckle while he stood up off of the tree-stump and sheathed Samehada to his back, "You're too lenient Itachi. But I should hardly be surprised. After all, you were the one that left your baby brother alive."

At the mention of his little brother, Itachi's mind went into overdrive mode. Although his expression didn't show it, 'When I fought Ichigo-san earlier, or rather when I manipulated my puppet to do battle against him a couple of days ago, I did not see a headband on his person. I wonder would it be worth a shot to request of Ichigo-san to eradicate the snake into mere ash and take Sasuke with him before mine and Sasuke's inevitable showdown. It is to come upon us.'

That could be something to seriously consider, 'Besides, that fiendish snake has obviously outlasted his sell-by-date.' The aloof Uchiha added in his mind before walking forward stoically, "Come Kisame. The day is young." A grin found its way to Kisame's face as he bounced up to Itachi and fell in stride with him.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking eh Itachi-san? Because if you are then this could be the start of a beautiful friendship…"

Sometimes it was fun to be a fearsome akatsuki member.

xXx

(Elsewhere – Location)

xXx

A peaceful country that resided near the Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) got by smoothly since the whole episode with one filthy rat known as Gato ended three years ago. Of course the people of (the) Nami no kuni honoured the memory of that truly epic unsung hero who rose out of nowhere (More or less) and inspired the people of the Nami no Kuni (Land of Wave) to stop fearing the little wannabe big-cheese so they could stand up and fight! That brave little blond haired-super-saiyan-lookalike that no one gave a damn about would forever have his name engraved in the hearts of many as they strolled down the very bridge named after the fox-boy himself.

The Great Naruto Bridge!

"The years sure fly by, eh, my boy?" A grey spiky haired nearly bald bespectacled old man with tanned-skin wearing a sleeveless t shirt, beige pants, and black sandals on his feet spoke to a little boy with messy brown hair.

The brown haired boy let a blissful smile spread across his face as he sat across from his grandfather in the living room of their three bedroom home they shared with his mother, "Right on grandpa. I wonder how Naruto-niisama is doing. We haven't seen him for ages!" The boy wore an orange long-sleeved-windbreaker, (open), a blue short-sleeved t shirt underneath, orange pants, and blue sandals on his feet.

Tazuna, the boy's grandfather, gratefully smiled at the thought of the underdog, "I too wonder what young Naruto-kun is getting himself up to nowadays. Though knowing him he's probably knocking some sense into some stubborn old man with Kakashi-san struggling to hold him back." He reminisced with a chuckle.

The boy grinned widely, "I bet nii-sama's too strong for anyone to hold him back now grandpa. He must be the Hokage by now."

Tazuna smiled with his eyes closed, "Yes, Inari-kun. The future looks bright for Naruto."

"Dinner's ready you two." An angelic voice spoke before a beautiful woman with long blue hair falling to her back walked into the living-room wearing an open long-sleeved pink blouse over a white V-neck shirt with flower-petals. Underneath both the pink blouse and shirt the woman wore was a baby blue dress that went down to her knees and showed-off her womanly-figure while the V-neck-shirt exposed her DD-cup breasts slightly.

She was a stunning woman.

"Okay mom." Inari replied with a smile at the blue haired woman now known as his mother.

Tsunami, Inari's mother, placed her hands on her hips and returned the smile in kind, "What were you two talking about?"

Tazuna hopped off of his seat with a relaxed sigh escaping his lips, "Just reminiscing about the time young Naruto and his team came to our aid when we needed it most."

A wave of nostalgia washed through Tsunami at the memory of her little blond haired hero, "Ah. There's one name I can't ever forget." She let out a giggle, "He was such a sweet little boy when we first met him, and handsome too, I bet he's off on some mission heroically saving a girl his own age from some terrible bandits, like he saved me from Gato's men."

Inari's inner mamma's boy came out as he dashed over to his mother and hugged her around her waist before burying his head into her abdomen, "Those jerks! I was really frightened when they took you away! But nii-sama was able to get you back!"

Tazuna let out a bark of laughter while Tsunami just smiled down at her son, "Yes. We own Naruto-kun a lot. He brought us closer as a family I think." Tsunami said.

Tazuna nodded his head in agreement with his daughter, "Amen to that. Tonight I say we should have ourselves a little pray in honour of Naruto and all he's done for us."

Inari's eyes lit up, "Yeah! That's a great idea! Let's go!"

Tazuna and Tsunami both laughed wholeheartedly while they watched Inari run off towards the kitchen, "He's growing up into a fine young man, just like he's father." Tazuna nodded his head in acceptance to his own words.

"He has a good role model in his life." Tsunami smiled at her father.

Tazuna grinned sheepishly, waving his hand dismissively, "I haven't done much for him. Naruto's more of a role model to him than I am. And that's just fine with me. Naruto's a good kid."

Tsunami shook her head in amusement before Inari's voice rang out from the direction of the kitchen, "Mom! Grandpa! Hurry up, I wanna pray for nii-sama and then eat!"

Tazuna let out a belly chuckle, "Guess we shouldn't keep the boy waiting."

Tsunami would've nodded her head if she hadn't spotted a small crack up on the ceiling. Tsunami puffed her cheeks out cutely, "Oh phooey. I thought you said you would fix that father."

Tazuna raised his eyebrow and looked to where his daughter was looking at to see the crack on the ceiling. It appeared to be rotating around at a snail pace that went unnoticed, "Well I'll be damned. I could've sworn I fixed that. Maybe I'm getting old." Tazuna laughed.

Tsunami pouted, "I told you that we should've gotten a professional to repair the ceiling, but no, you were like, 'I can do it myself, because I have to look after my family'." She mimicked her father's voice, "I swear you're getting more senile everyday father."

"Maybe I should check myself in one of those retirement homes." Tazuna joked as he turned around to stroll off into the kitchen amidst Inari's shouts, "Alright boy, we're coming. Sheesh, that boy'll be the death of me I swear."

Tsunami found her eyes glued on the crack on the ceiling as it zoomed in a straight-line while emitting an orange glow, "What's going on?" The blue haired woman murmured in shock.

Tazuna let out an 'hmm' of curiosity as he turned back around to face his befuddled daughter, "Is something the matter sweetheart?" He then looked up again and let out a gasp of bewilderment at what he was seeing, "Never-mind…" The very ceiling itself looked like it was being sliced open in a rectangle-shape with the sound of a low-chainsaw echoing throughout the air, "Inari my boy, just stay in the kitchen, okay."

"Why, I'm hungry?" The confused boy returned to his grandpa.

"There's a leak in the living room son. Grandpa and I have to fix it okay." Tsunami lied without taking her eyes off of the orange light that had formed a rectangle by this time.

"No fair!" Inari pouted from the kitchen.

Tazuna quickly shut the door to the living room as part of the ceiling collapsed onto the floor much to Tsunami's horror as two humongous silhouettes were revealed through a mass amount of debris dust picked up from the ceiling falling onto the floor and separating like a broken sandwich!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Tsunami let out an instinctual scream.

"What was that?" Inari asked in alarm.

"Don't worry, everything's fine. The neighbours are probably just making up a ruckus." Tazuna lied quickly, "What's that?"

"Where are my manners, I suppose you would've liked me to use the door, eh." A sickly pleasant male voice echoed smoothly through the dust that obscured both Tazuna's and Tsunami's views of him, "But, when one would grow tired of a nonstop game of killer-mouse and protector-cat, why would they want to use the door?"

Tsunami and Tazuna each took a step back while cold-sweat ran down their faces staring at the orange spiral-masked-man wearing a black cloak that covered his entire body, black pants, white leg-warmers, and black sandals on his feet.

In his hand he held a Gunbai-fan.

"W-What h-have y-you c-come h-here f-for? W-We h-haven't m-made e-enemies w-with a-any s-shinobi." Tazuna stammered as fiercely as he could. What Tobi said previously suddenly caught up to him though, "W-What d-do y-you m-mean b-by y-you've b-been c-chasing a k-killer cat."

As Tobi stretched out his devilish wings to the side with his arms held out to his sides as if he were getting ready to beat his chest like a Godzilla, people from outside that were unlucky enough to be walking pass Tazuna's house looked up at the masked-man with fear evident in their eyes, "Hmph. Your assumption is most inaccurate as I was the one attempting to dish out the righteous punishment to those who deserved it but I'm afraid I was intercepted by Protector-cat most of the time. What a shame." He didn't sound disappointed in the least.

Tazuna's eyes widened while Tobi deactivated his Katon: Akuma no Tsubasa (Fire Release: Wings of the Devil) jutsu and coolly climbed down the air to the ground as if he had levitated down, "Wait! What're you saying? That you…" Tazuna trailed off.

"You mean I took the justified action in dealing several _fortunate _sinful fools the execution penalty for their sins." Tazuna and Tsunami winced at how cryptic he made of what could've been a straightforward line.

"Y-You killed innocent people!" Tsunami cried fearfully, stepping away from Tobi with her father mimicking her actions only he stood protectively in front of her like a good father would do.

"Humans are such disgusting creatures. They're always fine when it's them in the driver seat but as soon as the shoe's on the other foot look what happens to them. They show their true colours and quiver in their boots like the cowards that they are." Tobi explained cryptically, sublime confidence evident in his voice.

"Are you trying to say we humans would kill our own kind?!" Tazuna bellowed, "Because that's absurd! You yourself must be human so what does that make you?"

"Such naivety," Tobi chuckled. "I am an angel who'll purify this sinful world by any and all means necessary, women, children, sick old men… I'LL KILL THEM ALL!"

Tsunami gasped at the insanity of the man before her while her father raged aloud, "You're a twisted monster! Angels don't kill people murderer!" He looked out of the corner of his eye to see the door open a touch and prayed that Tobi wouldn't see fit to 'cleanse' his grandson.

"Hmph. Your insolence to the one that has offered you a chance at redemption is infectious." Tobi berated Tazuna.

Tazuna smirked uncharacteristically, "Whoever said an old-dog can't learn new tricks had obviously miscalculated, because a wise boy once taught me to never give up no matter how things look."

"I think it goes along the lines of, 'Senile old fools willing to believe the first-load of nonsense a little guy spouts'." Tobi exclaimed.

Tazuna shook his head defiantly, "You're wrong! The civilians of our little town all changed for the better because of a little boy who touched all our hearts."

"Yeah!" Inari cheered in a hush voice and Tazuna panicked as he thought Tobi might've heard the boy, but the lunatic man didn't move an inch, suggesting he might not have heard Inari speak. Tazuna was relieved as such as he sighed inwardly.

"A boy did all that for you." Tobi droned in a sardonic manner, but Tazuna and Tsunami still gave him hesitant nods of their heads nonetheless, "Name?"

Tazuna grinned proudly, "Naruto Uzumaki."

Dead silence.

The eerily silence made Tazuna and Tsunami swallow nervously before Tobi's upper shoulders started moving up and down with his belly coming in and out due to the small amount of chuckles coming from Tobi.

Tazuna and Tsunami both blinked before Tobi let out a monstrous laugh, the sound of one man chuckling completely erupted from the small house of Tazuna and Tsunami.

"…HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA- HA-HA!"

"This man's insane." Tazuna murmured as he and Tsunami along with Inari stared at the madman with fear in their eyes while Tobi's insane chuckle continued to reverberate throughout the air to the point where his crimson eye was shrouded in a shiny blue glow with said glow erupting from his body that released a mini hurricane that destroyed the furniture within the living room.

The immediate result was the family being pancaked to the floor as if an elephant had been thrown over their shoulders while they felt the air around them thicken to extreme degrees and the very ground itself quaked tremendously like ten giants were having a drunken party and the ground was their bouncy castle!

"W-what… is-. I-I… c-can't… b-breath." Tazuna choked out forcefully, a painstaking expression on his face as he struggled to lift himself up off of the ground to no avail whatsoever. Tsunami and Inari both feared for their very beings as they couldn't even move or talk as Tobi's reiatsu pressed them to the ground as if they were mere ants among giants.

Elsewhere around the Nami no Kuni (Land of Wave) people wasn't fairing too well themselves against Tobi's raging reiatsu as panic and alarm was evident all over the scared and floored victims' faces of Tobi's power.

Eventually Tobi's crazy laugh died down to sight chuckles while his reiatsu settled down and his cloak stopped flapping about, "Highly amusing." Tobi droned.

Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari pushed themselves up on their knees and panted heavily, "Are… you two… okay?" Tazuna struggled to ask while he looked over to see Inari since the door was blown off from the intensity of Tobi's power.

"I'm scared grandpa." Inari cried through deep breaths.

Tazuna nodded begrudgingly, he knew he was powerless to protect his family against this monster who came out of nowhere.

"What are we gonna do?" Tsunami questioned through tears welling up inside of her eyes, receiving a twitch of the head from Tobi .

"I'll tell you what I'm gonna do." Tobi said with an eerily seductive tone of voice as he eyed Tsunami with a lecherous eye, "I'm going to take you home and allow my comrade to-."

"TOBI!"

It would seem Tobi's little outburst of power attracted a predator.

Tobi did not flinch as did the others that heard the bellow of a wild warrior.

All eyes turned upward in different manners. Tobi's head glanced at the sky casually, while his victims slowly lifted their heads with gulps to see what they hoped and prayed to be was a god among men to fend off the devilish man.

Tsunami's eyes were glued on the tall muscular figure of one orange haired man casually floating down with a sack-bag around his wide-chest, a ninjato sword sheathed into his sash, and a black dragon tattoo painted on his back. He did not utter a word to neither her nor her father nor her son even as his feet touched the ground without making a sound.

"Whoa…" Tsunami murmured to herself in awe while a red blush appeared across her face.

"No more games Tobi! It ends here!" The wild-tiger let out a beastly roar with his eyes overshadowed by the bangs of his hair.

Tobi got his way for the last two days, because every time Ichigo got near him he would immediately dash away to the next island located out of the elemental nations, killing as many innocent people as he could. Tobi even left a sickening message on the floor of one of the many islands he led Ichigo all over with someone's blood. The message said, "Purified. No need to thank the angel doing his job."

The only reason Ichigo was able to track Tobi was because his huge-wings left small truces of fire for Ichigo to follow, the tricky bastard. He did that on purpose just to lead Ichigo on a wild goose chase. And unfortunately, Ichigo was ashamed to admit it worked as he could no longer sense Gaara's chakra within his physical body, signifying his tag of a wandering spirit until someone would come from the Soul Society and purify him.

Tobi clapped his hands together, "You caught me at last. Well done Protector-san."

"That's enough of your sarcastic applause already, bastard!" Ichigo snarled. "You actually have the audacity to stand there and act casual in despite of what you've done! Because of you I couldn't get back to the others to rescue Gaara! For that your life is forfeit!"

"I'm shaking in my boots, Protector-san." Tobi feigned fear and Ichigo scowled.

Ichigo felt a pull on his trousers, making him look over his shoulder to see Tazuna on one knee while Tsunami gasped and the red blush on her face suddenly darkened immensely. Ichigo was a good-looking guy, "Uhh… Protector-san, sir, you wouldn't happen to know what's going on by any chance would you?" Tazuna asked unsurely.

"Yeah, I've got a score to settle with old one eye here since he's the reason why I was unable to assist Team Kakashi in the rescue of Gaara the kazekage." Ichigo explained to them while his hardened brown eyes turned to stare at Tobi hatefully.

Inari's eyes widened as he shakily strolled over to Ichigo, "Team Kakashi? Do you mean Naruto-niisama's team?"

Ichigo nodded his head, "Yes, I take it the kid had a big influence in your life then."

"Naruto changed us for the better. That was the reason why I named the bridge after him in the hope it would bring good fortune just like Naruto brought us three years ago." Tazuna smiled and Inari mimicked it before their smiles were quickly wiped from their faces as they turned back to Tobi and shuddered at the fact that he stood there patiently waiting while they conversed with each other.

"Don't mind me. I'm just admiring the weather." Tobi droned as he idly looked at the sky, making Tsunami flinch as the blue haired woman came out of her stupor.

Tsunami walked up to Ichigo and hid herself behind him while placing a hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there, "This guy-," Tsunami shuddered, "-Gives me the creeps."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you all!" Ichigo declared resolutely, "After all, it's the only thing I've ever been good at."

"And a fine job you do at that Protector-san." Tobi stated sarcastically, "You couldn't even locate my reiatsu before I flared it up due to a… rather interesting subject that popped up."

"Reiatsu?" Inari wondered with a puzzled expression on his features. He had heard of chakra but reiatsu was like a foreign language to him.

"I see." Ichigo replied calmly, closing his eyes, "So that cloak really does conceal your reiatsu as I thought earlier."

"It's why they're still here." Tobi informed Ichigo, gesturing towards the family.

"I'm afraid to ask what does that mean." Tazuna spoke up.

Tobi had no qualms with elucidating for the old geezer to comprehend, "It means my aura alone would've erased you lot from existence. It would've been the equivalent of you three never being born in the first place." Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami went wide-eyed with Tsunami closing her eyes and pressing her head into Ichigo's shoulder, "My power… the planet… it can't contain me. My very being threatens to eradicate the world."

Not to mention Tobi avoided having the captain commander of the Soul Society Shunsui Kyoraku on his tail. No matter how powerful one became no one wanted the captain of the first diversion gunning to take them down.

"That's…" Tsunami started.

"Outrageous." Tazuna finished.

Inari bit his bottom lip, "Was that why he was mocking you grandpa when you told him how cool nii-sama is."

Tobi made a noise of realization before holding up his index finger, "Ah. Yes. Naruto is an invaluable piece of the puzzle to the world finally living in peace and tranquillity once again."

"Naruto-kun!" Tsunami gasped.

"Nii-sama no, you can't hurt him!" Inari cried in desperation.

"W-What d-do w-want w-with Naruto?" Tazuna stammered.

"Naruto is…-"

"You're not getting Naruto! I won't allow it!" Ichigo roared resolutely, and Tsunami could feel an immense amount of reassurance rolling off of Ichigo's words.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Protector-san. You did so well protecting those thirty civilians that I 'murdered' while we played our game of cat and mouse that you must be surely ready to keep Naruto from fulfilling his destiny." Tobi mocked Ichigo, "Your incompetency truly reaches no boundaries." Tobi jeered and Ichigo had a scowl on his face before Tobi raised his hand and started charging up his power.

Ichigo's eyes widened, "Tobi no! You'll destroy the village!" Tsunami along with her father and her son all let out gasps at that.

"Let's put you to the test… Protector-san." Tobi quipped while a little purple ball of reiryoku formed on the flat end of his palm before hovering a little above it.

Ichigo turned around hastily, "I'm gonna need some space for this lady!"

Tsunami nodded her head and reluctantly backed away from Ichigo, "Can you prevent him from eradicating the village? I don't want to lose my family or my life just yet."

Ichigo looked at Tobi who already had a volleyball sized sphere of energy on his palm before waving behind his shoulder at the family reassuringly, "Like I said before, nothing's gonna happen to you lot!" Now he'd to act fast or else!

Ichigo's reiatsu intensified ten-folds over as the irises of his eyes changed from brown to yellow while his sclera turned from white to coal black. The killing intent of Ichigo amplified hugely, though he tried to focus it on Tobi as the black dragon tattoo on his back basically came to life as if it had a mind of its own before it came off of his back and shrouded Ichigo in its aura of black flames with its head hovering above Ichigo.

Tsunami covered her mouth with her hands at the malice radiating off of the black flame-covered Ichigo while Tazuna and Inari gaped like fishes with their eyes wide.

"W-What i-is t-that…?" Tazuna stuttered.

He wouldn't want to know. Two thousand years ago when Ichigo was in the Soul Society he used his hollow-eyes to search the deepest parts of the demon realm where bakudo-spells were originally from and pulled the mighty devilish move from the deepest pits of it.

At first the power of the dragon was even too much for the legendary shinigami to control as Ichigo quickly found out it burned his body entirely and left him unmoving when he first used it on a couple of vasto lordes in Hueco Mundo.

Only recently, (in comparison to how long Ichigo lived) was Ichigo able to fully tame the almighty creature from the demon-realm. Back when he took on the most powerful Uchiha he had ever faced Ichigo unleashed the dragon on Madara Uchiha who by that time wanted to eradicate the leaf village because his clan turned on him after he failed to claim the throne of Shodai hokage.

Anyway, Madara was able to throw the black dragon right back at Ichigo who was in his shikai mode (second form), much to Ichigo's surprise as the dragon ended up swallowing him whole. The reason why Ichigo's still alive today was because he ate the dragon and in essence became the black dragon himself, so it no longer harmed him when he summoned it.

People wisely ran into their homes as the sky itself darkened considerably in an eerily crimson red colour, and the clouds parted while turning black.

"And the tiger evolves into a dragon." Tobi stated amusedly, placing his oversized volleyball in front of him and outstretched his leg back to blast the dangerous ball of reiryoku at Ichigo and company, "Fukusū no Akuma no Bakudan (Multiple Satanic Bombs)!"

The family all screamed as the ball of reiryoku came at them while breaking apart into tiny little pieces before Ichigo outstretched his arm back with ferocity, the black flaming dragon's blue eyes gleaming as he did so before the orange haired immortal pushed his arm forward while roaring with intensity, "Jaou Ensatsu Kokuryuuha (Dragon of the Darkness Flame)!"

A beastly roar reverberated throughout the air while the black dragon charged forward and effortlessly swallowed the satanic bombs of Tobi whole, much to the aforementioned masked-man's amusement as the house was covered in flames and he was forced to push himself out of the house using the reishi flowing through the air.

"Oh my, I do believe I'm in trouble." Tobi told himself unnecessarily, enjoying trolling himself while he casually crossed his arms over his chest and powered himself through the door, causing splinters to scatter all over the place that was quickly burned from the extreme heat of the black, blue eyed dragon pursuing Tobi high into the sky.

Tsunami winced at the damage of her home. It was a complete and utter wreck complete with a roof that didn't seem to be there anymore.

Ichigo picked up Tazuna and Inari and threw them on his back before picking up Tsunami bridal style in his arms. She sputtered but quickly realized that the strong man wanted to get them out of the burning house that was collapsing on their heads.

Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami's visions blurred for a split second as Ichigo shunpo'd out of the house and reappeared on the outside before carefully placing Tsunami on the ground (on her knees) while allowing Tazuna and Inari to jump off of his back. Ichigo looked up with a scowl on his face to watch the dragon attempting to chase Tobi out of the planet… more or less.

"Sorry about your house." Ichigo apologised.

"Don't worry about it. Most important thing is that we're safe." Tazuna replied, looking up at the sky with concern in his eyes, "Are we safe?"

"I would like to think so old man, but knowing Tobi he'll find some way to counter The Jaou Ensatsu Kokuryuuha (The Dragon of the Darkness Flame)."

Inari swallowed a lump down his throat, "But does that mean nii-sama is-." He cut himself off, not wanting to think that his dear old brother-figure could potentially be in danger.

"He's not getting his filthy hands on Naruto or anyone else ever again! EVER!" Ichigo roared ferociously, making Inari and Tsunami flinch from the sound of his voice.

"Why does that horrible man want to kidnap Naruto for, sir?" Tazuna asked carefully.

Ichigo scratched his head absentmindedly, "It's not really my place to say old man, but let's just say Naruto and a few others such as the kazekage have special powers within them that they can't control but is kind of like a key of sorts that could be the trigger to unleashing the apocalypse… in a sense." Ichigo offered a shrug of his shoulders, "They're special."

"…"

"…"

"…"

Tazuna swallowed involuntarily, the ninja-world sure could be scary sometimes, "Well… I hope they won't be able to get their hands on him… uh-. I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name sir."

"Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

"That's a unique name." Tsunami giggled softly, making Ichigo grunt a bit.

Ichigo gripped his sword while narrowing his eyes, "That dragon won't keep him busy for long I fear. I best be off to continue trying to erase his presence from this world."

"Please make sure Naruto-niisama doesn't get hurt sir." Inari begged the immortal one.

Ichigo looked at them all and could tell that they all cared for Naruto, "I think you'll find your concern to be unnecessary, because I'm gonna assure that Naruto lives. Like Tobi said before it's my job to protect and I'll do just that." Ichigo groused coolly, a little smile forming on his face before he took off after Tobi and left the family staring up at the sky in awe.

xXx

(With Tobi)

xXx

"This should do it." Tobi noted to himself, black dragon still right on his tail as he and it were almost out of the planet's boundaries before Tobi's crimson red eye shifted to one of a yellow and black one like Ichigo's before he held up his left index finger, an orb of red demonic reiryoku forming on his finger, "Cero."

The cannon wave of Tobi blasted out of his index finger and went in the dragon's mouth and gave it a hard time trying to absorb it. Using his space-time migration jutsu Tobi slipped to the side and allowed the black dragon holding his cero in its mouth to fly out of the planet and away from him.

"Better luck next time Ichigo."

xXx

(Outside of the Akatsuki's Hideout)

xXx

Team Gai were the first ones out of the two Konoha-teams to reach the akatsuki-lair as they stood on the surface of the water with the water-walking jutsu and looked at the huge boulder blocking the entrance seriously, all three of them could see the tag on the boulder.

Pakkun pointed his paw at the boulder from Lee's shoulder, "Gaara's on the other side of that boulder."

"It won't be easy getting past that barrier." Gai informed his team seriously.

"What's the plan?" Tenten asked.

"We smash our way in!" Lee answered her energetically.

"No Lee!" Gai uttered firmly, turning around to seemingly face his teammates as a slight rustling was heard in the air before three silhouettes leaped off of the cliff and onto the water with silent splashes, "You're late, Kakashi." Gai smirked.

Tenten and Lee jumped in surprise while Neji merely spun on his heels calmly and greeted team Kakashi and Chiyo with a scrutinizing gaze.

Lee smiled brightly, "Naruto! Sakura!"

Kakashi stood up, "Well you see, we ran into a little trouble on the way."

"Kakashi… by troublesome, you certainly don't mean me, do you?" Chiyo questioned in a jesting manner.

Tenten pointed at granny Chiyo, "Who's the old lady?"

Sakura, still wearing Ichigo's windbreaker, gestured her palm toward lady Chiyo, "This is lady Chiyo. She's a counsellor of Sunagakure."

Chiyo flashed team Gai the peace-sign, "Hey!"

Naruto eyed the boulder determinedly, with his slits red and his whisker-marks thickened slightly due to the malevolent chakra of his Bijuu he was subconsciously flaring due to the anger he was feeling, "Let's roll!"

Neji was taken aback slightly, "…Naruto."

"Do you know what's going on inside of there?" Kakashi questioned.

Gai shook his head before turning to Neji, "No, but I'm sure Neji-kun can figure it out with his youthful doujutsu."

Neji rolled his pupiless eyes before holding his hands together in the ram sign and activating his Byakugan, making the veins pop out of his head, "I'll see what I can find." Neji assured in a level-headed manner as he turned around and looked dead ahead at the boulder, scrutinizing the inside of it, "I can see two unmoving figures."

"What about Gaara!? Can you see him!?" Naruto asked impatiently, grabbing Neji by the collar.

"Back off!" Neji commanded as he brushed Naruto off of him and regained his composure. His X-ray-like eyes roamed the dark vicinity of the akatsuki-hideout before slowly travelling to the two aforementioned figures elevated off of the floor, "It's desolated for the most part except for tw-."

"NEJI!"

"TAKE IT EASY!"

Naruto kept on shaking Neji's shoulder, "Well? What is it? DO THEY HAVE GAARA TRAPPED IN THERE OR NOT?"

"Affirmative." Neji nodded his head.

"Then we just have to get in there right?" Lee questioned.

Gai patted Lee on his shoulder with a smile on his face, "Well that makes it easier then doesn't it?" Gai back-flipped several feet away from the group, and lowered himself into a stance before charging towards the barrier with a youthful roar, "Dynamic assault!" Gai's fist connected with the barrier resoundingly, rocking the mountain and moving the water slightly while the barrier wobbled like jelly but otherwise didn't budge.

"Quite a barrier."

xXx

(Inside of the Akatsuki's hideout)

xXx

"Things are getting quite noisy, wouldn't ya agree my man?" Deidara grinned.

"What a shame." Sasori's tail cut Gaara's corpse unmercifully, "They're too little, too late."

"Tch, more like way too late. I'm practically bored here waiting for them to get in, hmm." Deidara replied.

Sasori chuckled gruffly, "As long as they don't keep us waiting too long I shouldn't be too cranky, after all it's not every day when a jinchuuriki saves us the trouble of going out finding it by coming to us, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha."

xXx

(Outside)

xXx

"What's the plan Gai-sensei?" Lee asked in a ready-to-go manner.

Gai placed his hand on his hip, "Well Lee it's pretty obvious we need to get rid of that barrier."

"And how do we do that?" Tenten inquired with her fists clenched at her sides in a nervous manner.

"Before we can even think of removing that barrier, we need to discover what kind of barrier it is, right?" Sakura said suggestively.

Gai nodded his head quickly, "That's right!" Gai smiled as he turned to face the barrier which had a tag that had word, 'Forbidden' on it. "So, figure out the type of barrier is step one. Isn't that right Kakashi?"

"Right." Kakashi confirmed languidly.

Chiyo looked up at the barrier with a lazy gaze, "What do you think?"

Kakashi made a hum noise, "This is… a five-seal barrier."

"I concur." Chiyo agreed.

"Five-seal barrier?" Naruto murmured with confusion evident on his whiskered-features.

"It's a strong layer of protection in which five tags with the word forbidden written on it are located around the area being guarded." Kakashi explained lackadaisically, "There's one in front of us, and there are four more somewhere nearby."

"Can't we just pull them off?" Gai questioned the masked-jounin curiously.

"It's not that easy," Kakashi told him, "Even know the tags are in five different places they have to be taken down simultaneously."

"So we have to remove them simultaneously?" Sakura drawled out.

"Right." Kakashi confirmed. "The barrier can't be removed unless the five tags all come off at once. It's a tall order." Kakashi pointed at the tag up on the barrier, "That's only one tag."

"This means there are four more out there." Gai stated.

Naruto felt a bead of sweat roll off of the side of his face before he turned to Kakashi and held up his clenched fists, "Alright then! Let's do it! How do we find out where the other tags are?"

Kakashi turned to Neji, "Neji?"

"I understand." Neji formed the ram sign, "Byakugan." His eyes intensified once again and the veins popped out of his cheek-bones. After a thorough examination of the area, Neji had results, "I found them!"

"Awesome Neji!" Naruto cheered. "Point them out!"

"There's one on a boulder about 500 meters northeast of here." Neji turned swiftly, "The second one is on the trunk of a tree growing along a riverbank, 350 meters to the south-southeast from here." Another swift turn came from Neji, "The third one… you'll find is on a cliff about 650 meters to the northwest." Neji spun on his heels sharply, "The last one… is in a forest a little less than 800 meters to the southeast."

"If that's the case, each one of them is pretty far apart. How'll we signal each other?" Sakura pointed out.

Gai took off his backpack, "I think I can handle that." Gai opened up his bag, "We should just be in range for these-." He held up four wireless radios, "-They're wireless radios."

"That's amazing! Wireless radios, huh." Naruto awed with a smile.

"Good thinking." Kakashi complimented nonchalantly.

"Yes." Chiyo said calmly.

Gai flashed them a thumbs-up and showed his teeth that emitted a sparkling glow, "Okay, we'll all stay in communication and find the tags with Neji's directions!"

xXx

(Forested area - Ichigo vs. Tobi – Hi No Kuni)

xXx

Tobi was dancing around the forest and jumping through the canopy to keep Ichigo on his tail and hoping to make the orange haired immortal frustrated so he would slip up and be easy to delay, "Mine. Mine. Protector-san, someone sure seems awfully cranky."

"STOP PLAYING WITH ME!" Ichigo roared demandingly, shunpo-ing in front of Tobi with the black dragon back to where it belonged, on Ichigo's back before Ichigo spun on his heels and drove in on Tobi with a swing of his blade.

Tobi slipped through Ichigo's blade using his space-time ninjutsu, "Don't be a sore loser Protector-san." Tobi quipped smugly, unleashing a fire ball from his Gunbai-fan that Ichigo dodged by shunpo-ing behind Tobi.

Ichigo let a smirk grace his features, "I think the term you meant to say was, 'Don't be a sore winner, _Protector-san.' _But I digress. Boasting about eradicating monsters like you would be a waste of my time!" Ichigo held his sword at the ready, the edge of the blade gleaming in the sun-light.

"Such bravado Ichigo," Tobi droned. "But it's all futile. Those that don't fight for justice have no place on the battlefield."

Ichigo sucked his teeth, "And I suppose you think taking away someone's mother, father, daughter, or brother is the perfectly right thing to do, huh?!"

"There's nothing wrong with purifying sinful ones Protector-san." Tobi argued in return, dodging a slash from Ichigo who sheathed his blade afterwards.

"What kind of twisted logic is that bastard?" Ichigo roared at Tobi as he held his hands together in a circular-shape with all of his fingers and thumbs touching, "Do you even know what kind of pain you've caused the family of the ones you've murdered! No! You don't! And the reason why is very simple. You don't give a damn you heartless monster!"

Ichigo pivoted on his heels and placed his left leg behind his right leg before unleashing out at Tobi with his circular-shaped arms, making Tobi step to the side in swift evasion.

"On the contrary, Ichigo-san, a part of me rather likes long-walks on the bench, picking flowers, watching the sunset rise from behind the horizon, or just reflecting my thoughts by staring up at the full-moon." Tobi explained mysteriously, lunging in on Ichigo with a punch that Ichigo countered by grabbing his fist and twirling them both around with his circular-shaped arms before sending Tobi sprawling across the ground with a blow to the side while his legs were crossed skilfully.

"Doragon sutairu (Dragon style)." Ichigo groused nonchalantly, standing up with his left leg outstretched in front of him and his right leg stomped behind him and bent at the knee. His left arm was held out in a flat-open palm and his right arm was held above his head in an open palm, "That's enough of your sadistic crap, Tobi! Now prepare yourself to get taijutsu'd!"

Tobi rose to his feet robotically, "I stand by what I said. Which is why it is so beneficial to gather the bijuus so the world may return to what it once was, elegant beauty," Sonido-ing behind Ichigo, Tobi aim'd (aimed) to boot his back in but instead almost ended up being thrown off balance when Ichigo gracefully rotated his body around, allowing Tobi's kick to roll off of his back harmlessly.

Ichigo's movements came much more fluent as he tip-toed to the side of Tobi and battered him in the side of his body, launching Tobi back several feet.

Tobi's feet touched the ground before he charged Ichigo down with his Gunbai-fan held at the ready, firing a fire-ball out of it that seemingly ghosted through Ichigo as if he were in his spiritual body and could not be touched.

"You combined the-shunpo technique (flash-step) with the Doragon sutairu (Dragon style) to make it seem like you merely stood still and allowed the fire ball to ghost right through you. But in all actuality, you moved so fast and so smoothly it appeared as if he hadn't budged an inch at all." Tobi elucidated. "Well done."

Ichigo stood in his dragon-stance calmly, staring at Tobi impassively, "Got anything else you wanna say, chatter-box?"

Tobi chuckled devilishly, "Actually, yeah, I think I do have something to say."

"And what's that?"

"Apart of me dies every time I feel a presence fade from this world Protector-san." Tobi murmured.

Ichigo did a couple of front-flip before switching to back-flips and then to cartwheels to close the distance between himself and Tobi within a second or so. Tobi merely blinked while Ichigo stood back up in his dragon-stance, only the flat end of his palm was held against Tobi's throat.

"Don't play with me asshole!" Ichigo demanded, "You, the guy who ruthlessly slaughtered several people who didn't do a damn thing to deserve such a death, are saying you didn't want to kill 'em? Make up your damn mind you lunatic!"

Tobi droned smoothly, "You misinterpreted me Protector-san. It's not that I didn't enjoy purifying those sinful fools, because after all, if you're gonna pick a career, why not pick one you at least remotely enjoy,-" Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "-No. It's that I would rather prefer to cleanse those who have tainted this world with their wretched souls."

A mass amount of burning rage filled Ichigo's eyes, "You must think you're some kind of messiah Tobi! If that's the case you need some seriously therapy, preferably someone that would see you in an asylum!" Ichigo quipped as he attempted to bury his palm into Tobi's throat, but the masked-man ghosted through it with his space-time migration.

Ichigo expected this, and shunpo'd in front of the spot Tobi reappeared with the help of his dragon-style mixed in with shunpo, making his movements more swift and flexible with the dragon-style being all about flexibility and shunpo (being) about speed.

Ichigo gripped a hold of Tobi with his circular-shaped arms before he gave Tobi an outrageously quick twirl that made Tobi's head spin as if he were in a washing-machine before Ichigo sent him soaring through multiple trees while going through a series of flips as his body whammed into the unforgiving wood that exploded into splinters upon the forceful impact.

An explosion of debris dust skyrocketed into the sky, obscuring the view of the masked-man lying in the crater he made with his body, groaning painstakingly while vehement coughs escaped his lips from his behind spiral mask.

As soon as the dust cleared up, a blur appeared near Tobi who was pitifully crawling on the ground trying to stand up. He tried to push himself up on his knee but found a black sandal hammered on his hand, making him look up to stare in the cold eyes of the immortal one.

"You won't have to feel empty inside if your comrades kill people, because it's not gonna happen on my watch." Ichigo smirked.

"It will." Tobi argued.

Ichigo lifted his eyebrow, "How so?"

Tobi had the audacity to chuckle in the face of one of the most powerful shinigami to ever grace the Soul Society with his presence, "Can't you feel it Protector-san? Some visitors have arrived at the Akatsuki's lair."

Ichigo looked off in the distance idly, sensing Team Kakashi's energy signatures along three others and Pakkun's, "What's your point Tobi? They're saunter on in there and take Gaara's corpse. It'll be as easy as baking pie. It's six against two ya' know, seven if you count the smallest reiatsu-signature."

Tobi let out his loud lunatic laugh, "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! You would think so, wouldn't you? But no, they have to remove the five-seal barrier I created to keep out any and all intruders, Ichigo-san. The only way to remove the barrier is to pull off all five tags at once. And let's just say, four of the tags are guarded by some… old chums of the old days, but only one you know."

Ichigo's facial features showed visible shock at that, "You don't mean-."

"Exactly," Tobi confirmed before Ichigo could even finish his sentence.

Ichigo looked at Tobi in annoyance, "Tch. Which ones will be guarding the tags, Tobi?" Tobi's eye gleamed, worrying Ichigo who got a semblance of pink hair and green eyes flashing through his head, 'Damn it! This doesn't sound like something they can handle alone.'

Ichigo walked over Tobi's body remorselessly, determined to find which of his old comrades Tobi made out like he kidnapped before he stopped as he felt Tobi's reiatsu and killing intent amplify ten-folds, signifying the activation of Tobi's hollow power.

"What are ya doing?" Ichigo groused, turning his head over to his shoulder to see Tobi holding up his palm that had a red orb on it. The thing that caught Ichigo's attention was that it wasn't directed at him, "Have ya forgot where I am standing or something? Or did the ass-kicking I gave ya knock a few loose screws out of your already scrambled head."

"Don't mind me. I'm just gonna fire this _random _cero in a completely _random _direction." Tobi droned sarcastically, knowing both he and Ichigo could sense life-signatures up ahead.

That clarification made Ichigo widen his eyes as he rushed forward to stop Tobi from firing off his cero and in return utterly annihilating the village they were nearby. But it was too late as the red-condense beam of energy was launched out of Tobi's palm and sent a skyrocketing dash on a one-way course to ash-town.

"DAMN IT!"

XxX

(Outside of the Akatsuki's lair – with Team Kakashi and Team Gai)

XxX

"Okay, team Gai shall make it to the remaining tags since we're the faster team." Gai smiled as he, Lee, Tenten, and Neji strapped their wireless radios around their necks and in their ears. Gai and Lee even tied their headbands around their foreheads.

They meant business now.

"Alright. We're counting on you." Kakashi said lazily, strapping on his own wireless radio.

Gai gave Kakashi a thumbs-up and showed him his sparkling teeth, "Crystal clear Kakashi."

Tenten looked at Sakura curiously, deciding to ask her a question that had been bugging since she last her, "How come you have a jacket that's too big for you Sakura? It doesn't even match what you're wearing or your hair."

Sakura placed her hands on her hips and puffed her left cheek out adorably, "Hmph. Stupid Ichigo."

Tenten and Lee looked at her strangely, "Ichigo? Who's that?" Tenten looked at a frowning Naruto while Kakashi gave her a nervous eye-smile.

"Maa. While Ichigo's a wanderer who we ran into at Sunagakure. He volunteered to assist us in the rescue of Gaara, but after he saved us from a summoning snake and gave his jacket to Sakura to hold for him until he got back we haven't heard a word from him since." Kakashi explained and Sakura huffed as she looked away.

Tenten nodded her head in an awkward manner. Sakura must've wanted to tear that Ichigo-guy a new ass, but was holding off her judgement until after the mission. And Naruto obviously seemed jealous.

"Alright team! Let us hype ourselves up with a youthful all for one and one for all salute!" Gai told his team as he held his hand in the middle and Lee energetically placed his hand over Gai's while Tenten's eyebrow twitched at the childish action of her team leader and teammate but quickly submitted once Gai gave her a stern yet creepy gaze.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Tenten sighed as she placed her hand over Lee's.

Gai smirked satisfyingly before turning to Neji with an expectant look.

The two began something of a staring-contest.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Hmmm." Gai grunted commandingly, and another grunt sounded out through the air from Gai.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

With a sigh Neji closed his eyes and figured he may as well get it over with.

Gai grinned as he placed his other hand on top of Neji's hand and pressed all their hands down exuberantly, "Alright! Fight with the full potential of youth!"

"Yosh!"

"Fight!"

"Yosh!"

"Fight!"

"Yosh!"

"Fight!"

"Yoshi!"

"Fight!"

"Yosh!"

Gai and Lee chanted repeatedly while Neji and Tenten moved their hands in sync with their teammates with irritated expressions on their faces while Naruto Uzumaki stared at the sign of teamwork with admiration in his eyes.

"On with the full power of youth!" Gai roared one last time for good luck before separating from his team as they each took off in their own directions.

"Oh wow! That was so cool!" Naruto cheered as he turned to face Kakashi, Sakura, Chiyo with hope in his eyes, "We should so do that too, right guys?!"

"I would rather die."

"Yeah… that's not happening."

"You fool."

Were the dismissals of Sakura, Kakashi, and Chiyo respectively, the former turning away from the blonde with her arms crossed stubbornly over her chest.

"Aw, you guys are no fun!" Naruto whined with a frown on his face as he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

xXx

(Inside of Akatsuki's lair)

xXx

"What's taking them so long hmm?" Deidara complained as he sat on Gaara's dead body, "I figured that they would've been desperate to burst through the entrance to rescue the kazekage since they kindly brought a Jinchuuriki to us, hmm."

"Keep in mind that they still have to hunt for the tags so they can remove the barrier," Sasori's gruffly voice held a hint of exasperation in it. "They sure know how to keep a _real _artist waiting though."

"Ya know I would've thought they'd be in here since Tobi created the five-seal barrier, and ya' know, my man seemed totally incompetent. But now, he seems like a genius, though we probably wouldn't get along if he doesn't like explosions, because true art is an explosion after all Sasori my man."

Sasori growled insolently, "I don't care what rank Tobi is, he's still a troll that's keeping us waiting! And I hate to be kept waiting!"

"Yeah, yeah, my man, don't we all."

xXx

(Sometime Later – Cliffside - With Gai)

xXx

Gai energetically accelerated toward the northwest of where Neji had informed them all where one of the tags was. It was on a cliff 650 meters out from their location previously. Despite having the second furthest distance to travel Gai arrived at the Cliffside and immediately found the tag he was looking for before placing his hand on it and giving himself a thumbs-up.

"In position. Have any of my youthful teammates found their targets yet?" He spoke into his radio.

xXx

(With Neji)

xXx

Neji found himself running in a wide-berth of space with grass and a few elevated rocks. He analysed his surroundings before setting his sights on a single elevated boulder that was 500 meters from the akatsuki's lair.

He walked over to the boulder and calmly put his hand on the tag before speaking into the radio around his neck and ear informatively, "Confirmed. The target found and identified."

xXx

(With Tenten)

xXx

Tenten was the slowest member out of team Gai and as such got the closest one to the akatsuki's lair. With that being said Tenten came across a river stream in a rocky-like area. She looked about curiously and her eyes set on a tree before seeing a paper-tag on the bark of it.

Tenten smiled brightly, "Alright! I've found it!"

xXx

(With Neji)

xXx

"_I found it you guys!" _Tenten signalled the others wearing the wireless radios through her own transmitted device.

"Excellent work Tenten." Neji praised level-headedly, hand on the tag as he patiently waited for the last member of team Gai to find the remaining one.

"_Uh, Neji_." Came Lee's voice through Neji's radio.

Neji held his hands in the ram sign calmly, "I understand Lee. Byakugan."

xXx

(With Lee)

xXx

Neji could see Lee wandering around hopelessly in a forested area and began giving him directions to where he was meant to go, "_Little more to the left. Then take a right. And look up. You got it."_

Lee smiled gratefully, looking up at the tree to see the tag glued to it like butter, "Thank you Neji-san!"

xXx

(Akatsuki's lair)

xXx

"_Alright Kakashi, we're in all position. Ready when you are my eternal rival." _Gai said.

Kakashi crouched on the boulder as he casually placed his hand on the tag to rip it off, "Good. On the count of three we'll all pull them off at once and then Sakura'll smash the boulder to pieces."

Sakura took several steps away from the boulder and eyed it seriously, "I'm ready!" Sakura assured, 'Although, I wish Ichigo was here to see this. That would show him, hmph.'

Naruto clenched his fists determinedly, "Hang on Gaara, we're coming."

"_On three it is then." _Gai grinned excitedly, "_Are you guys ready?"_

"_YES/Positive/Affirmative!" Lee, Tenten, and Neji assured simultaneously, making Gai's grin widen._

Kakashi and Gai started the count down, "One, two-." Both paused dramatically, "THREE/Three…" The sound of paper being tore rippled through the air from many different locations as Sakura took that as her cue to sprint forward with the speed of a low-genin could match before cocking her fist back and letting it fly with a shout of…

"Shannaro!"

The immediate result was the boulder breaking into four big chunks that allowed Team Kakashi and Chiyo entrance to the dark lair of the akatsuki where the two of the fearsome akatsuki-members were waiting.

The first thing Kakashi, Chiyo, Sakura, and Naruto lay eyes on was the blond haired man sitting atop of the motionless red headed kazekage with a smirk on his face.

"We're too late." Kakashi murmured.

"About time you lot stop keeping us waiting." Sasori growled beastly.

"I wonder which one'll crash the party first, hmm." Deidara quipped with a wryly grin on his face.

Naruto felt an overwhelming amount of sadness wash through him as he looked at the dead body of his friend and fellow jinchuuriki Gaara. Then that sadness was quickly washed away in the huge tidal wave of fury that welled up inside of his eyes! His hands tightened into fists as he subconsciously flared up Kyuubi's youki chakra and shook wildly while his eyes turned into murderous red silts, his nails into sharpened lion-like claws complete with wolf-like canines.

Naruto stepped-forward and unleashed his blazing killing intent on Deidara and Sasori.

"YOU BASTARDS, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"


	7. Underdogs Steal Centre Stage

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto.**

**Yeah... I'm back with another chapter of the Wandering Entity Never Perishes. And thank you to all those who have sent me such kind reviews and messages regarding my story. It really humbles and flatters me to see (read) you guys enjoying something I try to remotely make good and just fail at it. Thanks for that. Much appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 **

**Underdogs Steal Centre Stage!**

"Grrrrr. How dare that Deidara run off with the Ichibi-Jinchuuriki's body and leave me with an old hag and a little girl." Sasori growled to himself, his malice-filled eyes scrutinizing the two kuroichi in front of him standing a distance away.

Sakura stared apprehensively at Sasori, 'I can almost feel the difference in experience between us… and…' She swallowed hard, 'T-The amount of bloodlust rolling off of him.' Sasori's malevolence had the young girl breathing tentatively, 'The number of lives he must've… taken-.' She was cut off.

"At ease girl." Sakura turned to the calm voice of Chiyo, "Don't be afraid. As strong as Sasori is even he is smart enough to know how experienced I am." That sort of settled Sakura's banging heart down, if only slightly. Chiyo had lived a long life. It would make sense that she would know how to deal with powerful criminals such as Sasori.

Sakura had no idea. But she was soon to find out. Chiyo had come fully prepared for this inevitable showdown with her grandson Sasori of the red sand. The wise woman had a short flashback of earlier where her brother asked her was she taking 'those' when she opened a drawer and took out a special scroll that held something quite dear to Chiyo within its confines.

Chiyo simply replied to her younger brother that she'd lived a long life and that she was fully determined to put it on the line to deal with her own flesh and blood, because after all it was Sunagakure's fault for why Sasori turned out the way he did. But Chiyo was determined to carry that burden on her own shoulders and end it all right here and now!

"The form you see Sasori in now, dear, is not his real body," Chiyo informed Sakura, her aged wisdom-filled eyes never leaving Sasori's puppet.

Sakura nodded her head tentatively, "Yeah I can see that. But where is his real body then lady Chiyo?"

Chiyo pointed at the puppet master, "His real body is inside of that puppet of his named Hiruko. Due to the fact that all puppet-masters leave themselves vulnerable while manipulating their puppets was what inspired Sasori to create Hiruko, to overcome that weakness that hinders all puppet-wielders."

"But that's not all, granny Chiyo." Sasori interrupted his grandmother, "First of all I find the perfect test subject, go through the delicate procedure of removing all of its organs out of its body, give it a good thorough cleaning before turning it into a puppet to add to my collection of masterful art that'll be _everlasting_. Best of all the humans I turn into puppets refrain all of their jutsus they obtained when they were alive with a few healthy additions, such as their bodies being filled with weapons within them! How would you and that little girl like to become a part of my collection of art?"

Sakura flinched at Sasori's sadistic explanation of turning humans into weapons for his own amusement while Chiyo spoke up, "You've become truly corrupted Sasori. It's why I, Chiyo, will take the responsibility of ending you today."

Sasori let out a scoff, "As if a tired sack of bones with one foot in the grave such as you could defeat a true artist such as me. You and that girl surrendered your lives to me the moment you both stayed behind to do battle against me. I will be receiving two toys to add to my eternal art of pure beauty, make no mistake about it."

"Tired sack of bones, eh, one foot in the grave," Chiyo responded as if that were an ludicrous statement made by her grandson as she confidently strode forward while undoing her hair, allowing her hair to fall to her shoulders, "Then look again! There's more underneath this 'tired sack of bones' then meets the eye Sasori."

Chiyo reached underneath her long sleeves and whipped ten kunai knifes, (five from each sleeve), held up by a blue visible chakra thread. The kunai knifes were dancing in the air as granny Chiyo opened her arms out wide before pushing them out to send the kunai knifes flying at Sasori.

"Sōshūjin (Manipulating Attack Blades)." Chiyo announced calmly, slithering her arms to move the kunai knifes in a position to cut through Sasori's defences, however Sasori's metallic tail shielded him from a couple of the sharp weapons while the ones that he couldn't defend himself against sliced open his cloak.

"You indeed insist on defying me don't you granny Chiyo?" Sasori said malevolently, striking fear in Sakura's heart as he bent down on all fours and tore off his black akatsuki robe revealing a orange demonic face that had the end of his robotic tail sticking out of its mouth, "As I've said, you and that little girl will be become a part of my collection of ART!"

Sakura felt a bead of sweat roll off of the side of her beautiful face. "What's going to be the plan lady Chiyo? We'll have to get him out of that puppet if we are to stand a chance of defeating him, right?"

"Yes. The only way to get Sasori out of Hiruko will be to destroy his precious puppet." Chiyo confirmed.

"How'll we do that?" Sakura asked, eyes never leaving Sasori.

"We do that with pure brute force dear." Chiyo told her, her expression remaining lackadaisical despite the situation, "Pure brute force that just isn't within these old bones of mine I fear." Chiyo admitted. Well that was a shame wasn't it? Nope.

"However, you do have the necessary strength via using your chakra to greatly enhance your strength, just like that old slug princess Tsunade taught you." Chiyo said.

That gave Sakura some much needed confidence in her own importance to this battle but she still wasn't feeling much up to the task of taking on the fearsome akatsuki-member that was Sasori of the red sand.

"You seem to know a lot about that puppet lady Chiyo." Sakura stated.

"So I thought." That confused Sakura before Chiyo elucidated for her to comprehend, "Sasori was once a masterful craftsman admired for his many extraordinary puppets he created. However, his real ambition was making puppets out of the living… and then adding them to his collection." Sakura gasped. She had heard it once from Sasori but it still didn't make it any less horrific hearing it a second time from Chiyo.

"He calls this monstrous concept 'art'." Chiyo elucidated. Chiyo gestured with her eyes at Sasori, making Sakura turn back to the devilish man in the puppet known as Hiruko, "That puppet there, Hiruko, he used to be a shinobi from another village. Sasori made him into what he is today; a puppet that sustains his original human form… it's called a human puppet."

"A human puppet?" Sakura repeated, gulping.

"And the same fate awaits the both of you." Sasori bellowed, waving his tail into the air, "You will soon both become a work of my art."

Sakura gasped while Chiyo started briefing her on the puppet's abilities, "This puppet's highly skilled in both attack and defence… deadly at both. We have to force Sasori out of there with your brute force dear. The trouble is with that is that puppet is filled with deadly poisons. Without knowing what they are it'll be difficult to predict where and how he'll attack."

Sakura turned her emerald green eyes onto Chiyo, "On the other hand lady Chiyo you know a lot of how that puppet functions, which means we've got the advantage, right?"

Chiyo gave Sakura a hum and a nod of her head, but it wasn't one of confirmation, "So I thought. This is why I was so sure I could take him on myself. But looking at him closer I realize this Hiruko is different from the one I use to know back in the day." Sakura let out a shocked gasp as the old woman gestured to the demonic-shell on Hiruko's back and the doohickey on Hiruko's left arm.

"I don't remember that shell on Hiruko's back. Sasori must've heightened its defences, and that left arm is new to me." Chiyo admitted. Sakura gave Chiyo a worried look as the old woman guessed that the hidden gadgets within Sasori's puppet had also been upgraded by the S-ranked missing ninja, "In which case we have to assume that the puppet's hidden mechanisms have been improved also."

"So what'll we do?" Sakura asked, hugging Ichigo's windbreaker closer to her body subconsciously.

"You'll have to use your strength to eradicate Hiruko to pieces." Chiyo informed, keeping her voice low while her onyx coloured eyes turned to the emerald ones of Sakura, "Listen carefully, Sakura, you must somehow get close to Sasori and use your strength to shatter Hiruko asunder."

Sakura nodded her head as she clenched her fists determinedly, a flashback from earlier played within the depths of her mind, reminding her of how one Ichigo Kurosaki saved them all from that summoning snake. She told him specifically that she didn't need to be rescued by him during their 'old marriage' squabble. (Not that Sakura would ever admit that it was, hell no.) But she would use that moment as inspiration to give her the courage necessary to take on Sasori and show that carrot-top's swordsman how strong she was!

'**CHA! We don't need a good-looking carrot-top haired knight in shining armour shielding us!' **Sakura's alter ego boasted righteously, with Sakura just ignoring the 'good-looking' comment from her inner-self, since _it didn't mean anything! _Often times Inner Sakura would blurt out incomprehensible statements, most likely to annoy Sakura and in return fuel her with more rage that she could use to unleash a righteous beating on her adversaries.

Because after all rage equalled power since it was only natural for a human to subconsciously tap into their most inner and untapped potentials out of sheer anger alone.

"I'll show Ichigo I'm no damsel in distress!" Sakura assured and Chiyo gasped as a realization hit her full force. Sakura and Ichigo's 'relationship' reminded her of Sasori's own parents' relationship. His mother never liked being saved by his father, and always wanted to stand by his side as his equal. Maybe in this case Sakura wanted to stand by Ichigo's side as his equal, someone who Ichigo could rely on to have his back and not weigh him down in the many tough challenges the immortal one faces, maybe.

Chiyo shook her head. This wasn't any time to be getting sentimental.

"Be careful dear, you must be able to dodge all of Sasori's relentless attacks of his hidden devices, since I'm certain all of them are coated with the same poison he inflicted on Kankuro. Get even one scratch on you dear, and you're finish. This is a necessary; you must be able to evade all of his attacks, perfectly!" And Chiyo couldn't stress that enough.

"Before you can even get close enough to him he'll strike at you with all of his hidden weapons of a master craftsman's puppet. And you must also be able to immediately understand his attacks and anticipate them. Can you do that Sakura?"

"I don't think I'll be able to do any of that lady Chiyo." Sakura admitted truthfully, picturing a smirking Ichigo in her mind, "Shut up, Ichigo!" Sakura raged.

Chiyo felt a bead of sweat roll off of the side of her face but she decided to ignore that for the time being and focus on the task at hand, "Indeed this is a troublesome situation we find ourselves in Sakura. This kind of fight requires far more battle experience than you possess Sakura. But do not worry, for I am here. Sasori knows his experience pales in comparison to mine. This explains why he hesitates and doesn't attack us carelessly. For someone who hates to be kept waiting… it must be very frustrating."

"How'll I be able to get close enough to strike him with my strength?" Sakura asked, casting a nervous look at Sasori.

Chiyo gestured to herself in a grandly manner, "Take a look. I'm not just some old sack of bones with one foot in the grave ya know. And what Sasori doesn't know is that I've already made the first move. Together with my experience and your power we shall defeat Sasori once and for all!" Chiyo assured resolutely, gesturing for Sakura to come closer to her to whisper something in her ear, to which she did.

Sakura's eyes went wide at Chiyo's plan and she looked at the old woman in a tentative manner, but the wise old woman reassured her that everything would be okay.

Sasori hated to be kept waiting. So to him this was torture in itself, "Why are they taking so long? I hate to be kept waiting." He could see Sakura nodding at something that left him exasperated as he couldn't hear what they were saying. "I can't make out a word that they're saying."

Sakura gave one last nod to lady Chiyo and jumped into position, "Understood! Ready when you are!" Sakura told Chiyo.

"Are you sure? Well it's about time. I hate to be kept waiting. Don't you?" Sasori asked, gripping the cloth over his mouth threateningly.

"Don't worry, Sasori, we're ready now." His grandmother said reassuringly, bulldozing at Sasori with Sakura by her side.

"Bring it on then you old hag!" Sasori ripped off the cloth on the puppet's mouth and opened Hiruko's mouth to reveal a mini cannon-like device inside of it.

Bullet-like needles rapidly shot out of Hiruko's mouth and at the two ladies speedily, surprisingly getting them both to flip over the needles while continuing to press on their joint assault. Sasori was stunned how Sakura was able to intercept his attacks, the old hag he could understand but for that girl to do so would mean she had some seriously skill.

'How is that little girl able to dodge my poisonous needles? The old hag dodging them is obvious, but her, no.' Sakura and Chiyo were beautifully batting the poisonous needles away with a couple of kunai knifes they whipped out of their pouches and front-flipping in swift evasion of those that they could not dodge.

Eventually the barrage of Sasori's needles ceased to exist and Chiyo stood up calmly while Sakura stood at the ready. The atmosphere was tense as Sasori closed Hiruko's mouth and watched Sakura and Chiyo closely, neither women flinching under his solid gaze.

"They were ready for that one." Sasori concluded. The gadget on his left arm slowly came off of his arm, putting the females on guard as it flew at them while releasing a stream of purple gas, "NOW DIE!" The doohickey split apart and released a dozen of needles that zoned in on Sakura and Chiyo blindingly.

Chiyo and Sakura mesmerizingly danced past the soaring needles while the deadly liquidise poison that the needles were soaked in seemingly showered off of them. Chiyo's experience was on full displayed right there and then as her body flowed past the needles. And one could see the sublime confidence on Sakura's face as Chiyo assisted her in her own masterful display of making the puppet master known as Sasori look like a fool.

"Impossible!" Sasori shouted and looked as hard as he could for any signs of a cut on the pink haired kuroichi. She shouldn't be dodging them! It was impossible for a girl like her to do so! The old hag must've been helping somehow, "It's definitely the old hag controlling that girl! Otherwise my poison would've sliced and diced her to pieces by now!" Looking closely, Sasori could see the chakra threads attached all over Sakura's frame!

"Damn that old woman!" Sasori bellowed as the last of Sasori's needles fell lifelessly to the ground. Sakura didn't need an invitation to launch a full on charge at Sasori as she did so with gusto, shocking him, "What? Granny Chiyo's just standing there? Is this girl mocking me? Is she really attacking me head on without any back-up? Preposterous! Is just a girl!"

Sakura threw a kunai at Sasori which he deflected with ease and launched his tail at the girl in retaliation, but his tail was suddenly brought to a halt inexplicably, "It won't move!"

He looked to see Chiyo with her arm stretched backward as if she was pulling something. He then remembered Chiyo's very first attack on him earlier. The blasted woman attached her own chakra threads on to his tail! "Damn it grandmamma!" Sasori bellowed.

"STRIKE NOW, SAKURA! DO IT NOW!" Chiyo recommended and Sakura obliged by gracefully flipping up into the air while channelling chakra into her fists for a boost of strength. The pink haired beauty came crushing down upon Sasori's puppet Hiruko with a thunderous blow even Ichigo Kurosaki would've been proud of!

"SHANNARO!"

Splinters scattered across Sakura's face as a silhouette leaped away from her while she breathed heavily from her utter eradication of Sasori's puppet Hiruko.

"Well, well. You finally show your face eh Sasori-kun." Chiyo taunted, a sublime confidence surging through her veins as the hooded figure of her grandson had his back turned to her, "Oh come now, I've come all this way to see my adorable grandson. The least you could do is show me your face my boy."

Sakura was breathing hard after that last barrage. Her endurance was pretty low, but she stood up, and kept her fists clenched at the ready for any sighs of a counterattack after wheezing involuntarily upon getting a look at Sasori's real body. And there was still more shock to come. Sasori slowly pivoted on his heels and gave Chiyo and Sakura a good look at his face that put an expression of astonishment on Chiyo's face.

"No. It can't be. You haven't aged a day!" Chiyo gaped.

Things were going haywire in that battle.

XxX

(Giving Chase to Deidara – Naruto and Kakashi)

XxX

Deidara had tried to taunt Kakashi into staying with Chiyo and Sakura in order to lure Naruto into a one on one death-match alone. The blond bomber knew he could easily defeat the blond boy as the enraged Jinchuuriki-boy wasn't thinking straight due to the intense fury he felt for the way Deidara took Gaara away from him again. It was quite amusing to say the very least to Deidara. The other Jinchuuriki that they kidnap, they did so without any disturbance.

According to the blond bomber, the shinobi and the civilians of Iwagakure no Sato didn't give a damn about the capture of the Gobi no Irukauma (The Five-tailed dolphin-horse), on the contrary, they seemed happy to be rid of the Jinchuuriki formerly known as Han.

Deidara guessed that Naruto couldn't forsake his own kind in danger… how cute.

"GIVE GAARA BACK RIGHT NOW, YOU BASTARD!"

Naruto had instantaneously charged out of the akatsuki's hideout the moment the blond haired man with the long bang covering his right eye picked up Gaara's corpse with the clay bird he was riding on and took off, leaving his partner fuming as they were having a discussion about something.

"Naruto calm down! We're getting too far away from lady Chiyo-sama and Sakura!" Kakashi alerted, having chased after the blond haired boy the moment he ran after the akatsuki member Deidara who had taken Gaara's dead body in order to lure the boy out into the open.

Now Kakashi and Naruto were hopping from log to log in a deep ravine while Deidara continued to more or less tease Naruto from the sky with Gaara's body ensnared in the clay bird's tail. The red-eyed Jinchuuriki-boy held a burning fury in his slits that promised vengeance on Deidara once he got his claws on that S.O.B.

"Don't worry about me Kakashi-sensei! You go back to Sakura-chan. I'll be just fine with this bastard!" Naruto assured stubbornly, clenching his fists determinedly.

Kakashi cursed underneath his breath, "Gai! Gai! Where are you lot? We're going to need some assistance over our end."

Roars of pure intensity echoed through Kakashi's wireless radio, "_We're in a bit of a bind here ourselves, Kakashi. It'd seem the akatsuki had an ace up their sleeve or four_."

"What?" Kakashi's narrowed his eye in interest. "What do you mean by that Gai?"

"_What I mean is whatever those seals were made out of also acted as a prison to keep my own and my youthful teammates' opponents locked up and ready at a moment's notice to do battle with whoever removed the seals."_ Gai explained, grunting every so often like he was dodging while talking simultaneously.

Lee spoke up, seemingly easy, "_Yosh. Kakashi-san! My opponent is a most formidable one. But I should be able to defeat him!" _

"_My opponent is giving me quite the run for my money, but I should be able to subdue her soon enough." _Neji stated, seemingly at a loss for words that Lee's opponent was giving him less trouble than his one was giving him.

"_Same on my end too, I should be finished in a jiffy!" _Tenten gleamed at her end of the line.

Gai sounded like he was crying over Kakashi's end of the line, "_Oh Lee, Tenten, and Neji! My youthful team are coping much more easily than I, their sensei, am! I do not deserve the honour of leading them to greatness_!"

Lee let out a gasp, which was immediately followed by a hard thud, most likely because he just sent his opponent hurtling into a tree with a spinning roundhouse-kick to his jaw, "_Gai-sensei's in trouble! His opponent must be the_ _pinnacle of power! We must finish up our battles and assist him immediately_."

"_No, Lee! It isn't that. I've let you down my pupil. But I promise if I get out of this situation I'll do five hundred push-ups and one thousand laps on my hands as well!" _Gai promised, unnecessarily striking his nice-guy pose.

He suffered the consequences by taking a slash to his shoulder, causing blood to shoot out of his arm.

Tears rolled down Lee's cheeks, "_Oh Gai-sensei! You truly are inspirational to all young upcoming shinobi out here. I could not have gotten this far without you!"_

"_No, Lee, I couldn't have become this good of a sensei without a truly splendid student such as yourself my boy!" _Gai returned the praise earnestly.

"_Oh Gai-sensei_!"

"_Oh Lee!"_

"_Oh Gai-sensei!"_

"_Oh Lee!"_

"_Oh Gai-sensei!"_

"_Oh Lee!"_

"_Oh Gai-sensei!"_

"_Oh-. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"_

"_GAI-SENSEI/_Gai!" Shouted Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Kakashi at the bloodcurdling scream Gai let out as it echoed through all of their wireless radios. Completely stunned that someone was giving Maito Gai some serious trouble the members of Gai's team put on their game-faces so they could defeat their opponents and rush off to assist their leader in subduing his own one!

XxX

(Forested area – With Lee)

"What on earth is happening to Gai-sensei?!" Lee asked himself frantically, dodging a swing of a huge battle axe from his possessed looking opponent by back-flipping away from him, "I'm sorry, but due to circumstances that I cannot control I must quickly end our little spar and assist my sensei immediately."

His opponent snorted. He was a huge figure easily standing at 9ft tall wearing a white kimono top and white hakama pants with geta sandals on his feet. On his kimono-top there was a name-tag of sorts with the words 'Garlic' on it. Lee didn't know what that meant, whether it was his name or not, since the man wouldn't talk. The robust light-skinned man had pointy ears and no eye balls. His eyes happened to look like a couple of black holes. Most distinctive trait about the man was the white mask placed on the back of his head.

"**Annihilate all intruders. Annihilation." **He said robotically, getting Lee to sigh as that was all the green-clad ninja had heard his opponent speak.

"Just what in the world is this man?" Lee murmured while standing in his patented taijutsu stance. His right arm was folded behind his back while his left arm was held out in front of himself in an open palm.

Lee athletically flipped over his opponent's head the moment he swung that big grey coloured axe at him with ferocity, causing the ground to split open from the force he packed into his blow, "You won't be able to touch me with that level of speed Kenjutsu-san." Lee said with respect in his voice.

His opponent growled at him and bulldozed towards him while tremendously hurling his battle axe at him. Lee dashed amazedly to the side, slammed his palm on the ground, let his leg fly upward at the giant man's chin, and booted him off of the ground.

"I should think my move through carefully." Because the last time he full on rushed his opponents resulted in him ending up on the receiving end of a beating for his honourable attempt to protect the injured Sakura at the time.

Thinking about the time Lee tried to shield the pink haired kuroichi made him worry for her, "I wonder how Sakura-san is doing." The mammoth of a man began to descend from the sky, making Lee run off in the opposite direction, jump at a tree, and rebound himself off of said tree before firing at the robot man with his legs rapidly spinning like a fan!

"Wakamono Moeru Puropera Kikku (Youth Blazing Propeller Kicks)!"

The end result was devastating. The man's face took a sheer beating from the intensity of Lee's kicks that went at such pace it shredded the zombie's face like butter! Sickly black coloured substance of some sort spewed forth from the creature's mouth as Lee's buried his leg into his stomach and fired him away like a missile.

Probably the right description for it to, since the man shattered the trees he flew through after being sent flying by Lee and the power the boy packed into his kick.

Lee chased after him while communicating with Neji via his wireless radio, "How are things on your side Neji-kun! Oh, can you check to see if Sakura-san is doing alright please? Thank you!"

A strained growl was heard by Lee as clear as day through his wireless radio, "_I've kind of got my hands full at the moment Lee." _Lee gasped at that.

xXx

(Open Field – Neji)

Neji ducked underneath a blow from a pair of nun-chucks and wisely hopped back as another ferocious swing of the aforementioned weapon threatened to wipe his eye out.

With his Byakugan flaring, Neji could see the woman's chakra coils as clear as day, "My opponent's chakra network is very under developed. However, she is still proving to be quite the formidable foe." Another gasp was heard from Lee. First the white mask and now Lee found the thing Neji was engaged in battle with had under-developed chakra coils!

Just what in the hell were these things?!

"_Neji-kun! Does your opponent happen to have a white mask on her person like mine does?!'_

Neji angled his body awkwardly, avoiding the ever skilful twirling hits from the woman. The jounin tilted his arm up, knocking up the girl's arm. Taking advantage of the opportunity the Byakugan-wielder presented for himself, Neji channelled his chakra into his palm and turned it into a golden one and then struck the brunette directly underneath her armpit.

A puddle of blood smeared from the woman's mouth, shocking Neji while he watched her fly back from the momentum of his blow and harshly bounced off of the ground and cracked it simultaneously. Taking a moment to recompose himself; Neji took in the brunette's approach with indifference.

Her long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail that stood up straight if the laws of gravity simply didn't supply to it. Her attire consisted of a pink spandex that made an involuntary shiver run down Neji's spine as that spandex gave him a resemblance of a green apple one. She wore short battle-armour only reaching her abdomen complete with shoulder-pads and geta-sandals on her feet. The thing that caught Neji's attention the most though was her eyes, or lack of for that matter. It looked like a couple of black voids.

"I'm afraid that I cannot see a white mask on her Lee." Neji informed his youthful teammate. "But with that being said, I can most certainly see her eyes, and I say with confidence that I've never seen anything like it."

"_What in the world do you think could've inspired the akatsuki to make such un-youthful creations Neji-kun_?" Lee asked.

"I too would like the answers to those questions myself Lee." Neji said before switching the focus over to his and Lee's female teammate. "How are you finding your battle over there Tenten?"

XxX

(Moments Earlier - River stream – Rocky area – Tenten vs Zombie-man)

XxX

The ever-graceful weapon specialist of team Gai could say with gusto that she was dominating her opponent. The big man she was facing had a half of a broken mask placed on his jaw, tan-skinned, orange markings on his cheeks, orange eyebrows, and strangely enough he'd black-sideburns. The humongous man's attire consisted of a white jacket that remained open and gave Tenten a clear-view of the hole underneath his chin and the number 10 on his left arm next to the letter C. White hakama pants, geta sandals, a katana rested in the scabbard on his hip.

This was a watered-down Arrancar based on the formerly known one as Yammy created by the madman Sosuke Aizen.

"**STOP** **MOCKING ME!" **Yammy-clone hollered at Tenten who kept throwing teasing insults at the freakish man while gracefully back-flipping out the way of his wild-punches.

"What's wrong big boy; don't like what you can't touch?" Tenten teased, hurling a kunai straight into the big man's throat and forcing him to cough out black liquid of some sort as the kunai connected with his throat effortlessly.

"**HOW DARE YOU? I'M THE KING OF ALL ARRANCAR!" **Yammy-clone stated with his arrogance flaring mightily, "**A PUNY LITTLE GIRL LIKE YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND MY POWER!" **Tenten was confused at that but decided to annihilate first and interrogate later, as she beautifully whipped out a massive scroll from a smaller scroll she kept inside of her pouch.

She flashed through a series of hand-signs before leapfrogging high into the air and unfurling her scroll to twirl it skilfully around herself.

Dozens of weapons compromising of kunai-knifes, star-shaped shurikens, katanas, battle-axes, samurai-swords, tantos, spears, and many more spewed forth from Tenten's scroll and were rocketed downward at the mammoth of a man like falling fireworks, making Yammy-clone's mouth fall to the ground in an ludicrous fashion as he was showered by the frenzy-girl's many toys!

"Sōshōryū (Twin Rising Dragons)!"

"**AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

A bloodcurdling and excruciating painful scream erupted from Yammy-clone's mouth as the dust surrounded him due to the weapons that collided heavily with the floor, quaking it with a tremor! Tenten landed on her feet and put her fingers on her wireless radio as a familiar voice came through the radio!

"_How are you finding your battle over there Tenten_?"

Tenten smiled in excitement. "I'm doing great Neji! This big oaf's too slow to keep up with me. Though there is one thing that's bugging me."

"_And that is?" _Neji asked expectantly.

"It's his creepy eyes and the hole in his chest."

"…"

Lee spoke up, "_Yoshi! I too have seen strange eyes on my most vigorous opponent too Tenten-san. But I'm afraid I haven't seen a hole on him anywhere._"

The dust cleared up to reveal a bloody Yammy-clone with his left sleeve barely hanging on as it was while the rest of his jacket had many cuts and blood stains on it.

"Well this guy I'm fighting does have his jacket open. Perhaps that why you guys can't see the holes on your opponents, if they have any." Tenten guessed while Yammy-clone raged and stomped his feet on the ground like an angry child.

"_You make a valid point there Tenten."_ Neji agreed calmly, "_Have you gathered any vital information from the person you're engaged in battle with that we can use to figure out what these abominations are?"_

Tenten tapped her chin, "Oh yeah. He says he's something called an Arrancar." Now that got both Lee and Neji to raise their eyebrows. Just what the hell was an Arrancar?

"_How do you believe the akatsuki could make such things? I have to say, they make for splendid sparring partners!" _Lee said, causing both Tenten and Neji to frown over their ends of the line.

"This is not the time to be thinking about that Lee!" Tenten frowned.

"_Indeed." _Neji agreed with Tenten, "_Especially if my theory is correct about these 'Arrancars' being stronger or faster the further the distance away the tags get from the main one."_

"But wouldn't that mean Lee should be facing the strongest one?" Tenten asked while she back-flipped away from the onrushing Yammy-clone who madly swing his giant arm at her as if it were a hammer.

"_It could be that the akatsuki were somehow expecting a team of five to scatter off in search of the tags littering around the area and simply did the old switcheroo regarding the guards that were sealed within the farthest tag and the second farthest too throw off the team whoever peels the tags off. I wouldn't put it passed them my splendid teammate." _ Lee tried to elucidate the situation for Tenten to comprehend.

"No one ever said the bad-guys played fair," Tenten replied, suddenly beaming with delight once Yammy unsheathed his katana and drove in on her tremendously, picking up in the dust due to his weight and size. "Oh. You wanna play, big boy?" If he thought for a second that he could outclass her in swordsmanship (swordswoman-ship), then he was soundly mistaken. And the Chinese-style bun haired girl would show this lunatic just outmatched he was against her!

Tenten kicked up a Wallace sword that was hurled out of her scroll in her jutsu vendetta she unleashed on Yammy-clone before she charged at him while screaming like a Native American!

She was having fun.

XxX

(Neji vs Arrancar)

XxX

"She's turning into Gai." Neji murmured awkwardly over the sounds of Tenten's yelling echoing through his wireless radio.

Neji took a side-kick to his ribs from his female adversary, making him cough out blood as he berated himself for taking his Byakugan-powered eyes off of her, but he pressed on, doing so by grabbing her foot with one hand and thrusting his other one out in an open palm. A vortex of powerful twirling air in the form of a tornado came forth from Neji's palm and penetrated his rival for the day, carrying her several feet away from him.

"Hakke Kūshō (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm)." The genius-boy observed the results of his new technique expressionlessly, not even flinching as the woman landed on a boulder and shattered it, causing smoke to erupt through the air.

As the smoke cleared up, the Arrancar was shown with scrapes and bruises all over her face but her expression was still frozen in her usual stony, stoic demeanour.

"You are good. I can see this'll be difficult for me to subdue you as lord Tobi-sama has commanded of me." The woman told him.

"So you pawns do talk." Neji said with a scoff, "Then tell me something. What exactly are you supposed to be?" Neji asked as if he wanted to confirm the fact that he too was fighting an Arrancar like Tenten and maybe Lee was.

"I am an Arrancar." She informed him, her facial features never changing. "Created by lord Tobi-sama to utter exterminate anyone who moves the tags keeping us at bay."

'So they were artificially made.' That explained the eyes, "Tobi? I take it that riff-raff happens to be your leader. No?" The woman gave him a nod of her head in affirmation, "I take it not all of you were made to simply be the same. Am I wrong?"

"Yes." At this, the woman unzipped her spandex enough to move the left side of it to show Neji her FF-cup sized breast, getting him to narrow his eyes as he noticed the black hole within her boob, "All of us Arrancar have a black hole and a white mask somewhere on our bodies." She showed him her other huge breast and lo and behold there was the skeleton-like mask glued to her breast.

Neji gripped his wireless radio, "I've discovered an interesting fact about our foes. It would seem all of them have a black hole and a white mask on their bodies. I can assume as much for their eyes as well." Neji dished out to the others informatively.

"_Yosh! This is most unusual. To think that the akatsuki would go this far to insure that they extract a Bijuu outta someone is most despicable_." Lee said, violently smashing his overly huge foe into a tree with an immense force before a thought came to him, "_So does your adversary talk Neji-kun? Because mine doesn't."_

"Interesting. It would seem not all Arrancar-creatures were made with equal efficiency," Neji would've said more if a booming sound wasn't heard from his left side that made his eyes widen as his opponent flashed to his side within a simple movement.

Neji barrel rolled forward to dodge a swing of the woman's nun-chucks, "I'll have to leave you for the moment Lee. It would seem these Arrancar-things have different abilities. I must focus on defeating her before she defeats me."

"_Yoshi! Good luck in your fight Neji! And may you defeat her with the flames of youth powering up your techniques!" _Lee hollered before allowing Neji to assert his full focus onto his dangerous opponent.

"I must say, you're quite quick Arrancar-san." Neji complimented.

"Sonido. It's a technique that can only be used by an Arrancar, allowing us to move at an extremely high level of speed." The woman told Neji informatively, "And my name's Sakiko. It's a pleasure to be erasing your presence from this world shinobi-san."

"Neji Hyuga." Neji introduced himself. "And the pleasure is all mine Sakiko-san." And with a shift of his feet Neji twisted his whole body around as if he were given the cue to do so by the sonic boom that was created by Sakiko. There was a powerful condensed sphere of chakra encompassing Neji's body, creating a powerful hurricane. The jutsu shielded him from Sakiko who flew backwards from her attempt to dislocate Neji's neck after Sonido-ing behind him.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!" Neji stopped rotating around and stood at the ready, "I wish you luck trying to break through my ultimate defence. Because it won't happen, fate has my side just this once." Neji assured calmly.

Sakiko picked herself up and dusted her off, a levelling a composed stare at Neji before bulldozing towards him once again. She would make sure to avoid that jutsu if it were the last thing she did.

That fight was explosive!

XxX

(Lee vs Garlic)

Lee, deciding to go by the tag on his foe kimono-top, booted Garlic straight into his eye and sent him hurling downward at a ferocious pace. Garlic angrily slammed his battle axe off of the ground and immensely bounced off of the ground like he was meant to do so before coming back at Lee like the green clad boy was wearing red instead of green.

Lee amazedly jumped up and over his head before grabbing Garlic's head with his two hands and driving downwards with his knees firmly sticking to the back of Garlic's head; Lee's back connecting with the floor and making spider-cracks appear while Garlic felt the full on impact of Lee's knees glued to the back of his head.

"**OUCH!"**

The man roared in agony while the black substance that must've been the equivalent of blood shot out of his head and onto Lee's spandex. He tussled to try and shake Lee off, but the bowl-cut haired shinobi held on tightly, until he suddenly swung himself over the downed Arrancar and immensely sunk his feet into Garlic's abdomen forcing him to grunt out more sickly black blood of sorts from his mouth.

Lee hopped off of him and youthfully struck him with the sole of his foot, sending him soaring through the air while going through multiple of rolls.

"This shall be over soon. I shall see to that otherwise I will do five hundred sit-ups, and then I'll do one thousand push-ups. And If I cannot do that then I shall complete two thousand star-jumps. AND if I cannot even do that, I WILL climb the Hokage monument five thousand times, weighed down with a boulder on my left arm!" Lee's declaration was cut short, (he wanted to say more), by Garlic who stomped painfully over to him.

He was on his last legs, Lee could see it.

Lee deflected Garlic's strike with his battle axe with a high kick of his own, launching Garlic's weapon into the sky. Lee flipped upside down and let his legs rip thunderously, powering Garlic around with his legs while brutally tearing the big man to pieces. The sleeves came off of Garlic's kimono top, and one could clearly see the bits of clothes mixed in with the black 'blood' falling from the man as well.

"Wakamono Moeru Puropera Kikku (Youth Blazing Propeller Kicks)!"

And Lee's vendetta wasn't to be stopped there.

The green clad ninja hammered his palm on the ground, causing it to crack while he shot his leg upward like firing a missile. His leg resoundingly impaled Garlic right into the jaw, breaking it like glass and shooting the Arrancar high into the sky. Garlic felt the blood rush to his head as he flew upward as if he were on his way to heaven.

No pun intended.

"Gate of opening… opened!" Lee declared, feeling the restraints on his brain released due to the opening of the first of the eight gates. Lee vanished amidst a ring of white smoke and a circle of leaves that appeared. He reappeared up in the air behind the soaring Garlic in perfect sync. "Kage Buyo (Dancing Leaf Shadow)…" Lee whispered without a hint of exuberance in his voice as the bandages on his wrists started to unpeel themselves as if they had a mine of their own. "It's over." The bandages concealed the squirming Garlic tightly, the big man panicking as Lee drove them up and rocketed them downwards at super speed while spinning insanely as if they had become a beyblade!

"Omote Renge (Front Lotus)!"

**BOOM!**

A crater was made as Garlic found his head and body twisted awkwardly out of position. His spine bent as his legs remained held up and over his broken neck.

Lee bowed to his fallen adversary, "I do apologize for my cold bloodied method of ending your life. However, I could not afford to waste time with my sensei in danger of losing his." Lee's eyes then widened as Garlic's body dissolved into many tiny white pieces of energy, "Interesting. Is that how we all die? I must write this new piece of info down!" Lee reached into his pouch and brought out a notepad and pencil, quickly scribbling down what he'd learnt today, "This is truly splendid information! The wonderful cycle of life is blessed with a full hot bloodied dosh of youth to go with it!" Lee cheered before putting his notepad back into his pouch.

He nodded to himself as he tuned on his wireless radio to speak with his sensei, "Gai-sensei! Gai-sensei! I have successfully subdued my opponent! How are you flaring sensei?"

He could hear Gai roaring on the other end of the line, "_EXCELLENT WORK LEE-KUN! YOU MAKE ME PROUD TO CALL MYSELF YOU-. UGHHHHH!"_

"GAI-SENSEI!" Lee shouted in alarm.

"_Sorry, this youthful lady I'm engaged in a hot bloodied battle with is proving to be quite the adversary_." Gai explained.

Lee's eyes had a fire lit in them, "Then I shall rush over to assist you Gai-sensei! Hold on, I will be there in a breeze!" Lee promised and Gai grunted as he continued to fight with all of his might to defeat his overwhelmingly powerful opponent. Lee looked off into the distance and thought about team Kakashi. "I hope the rest of you will prevail in your struggles against the akatsuki-members! If not, then hold on, because Konoha no Utsukushiki Aoi Yajū (Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast) shall be at your sides to offer his assistance!" Rock Lee roared energetically, tightening his red headband around his forehead before dashing off in a blur of speed as if he'd miraculously learnt Hirenkyaku to help Gai slaughter the 'Arrancar' he was facing.

The grass wasn't always grasser on the other side in this case.

XxX

(Tenten vs. Yammy-clone)

Yammy found himself on his knee breathing hard while looking at Tenten who had a teasing smile on her face as she looked at her comprehensive opponent with her sword resting on her shoulder.

"**Don't you dare think you've beaten me you woman! NO woman can beat me!" **Yammy-clone hollered, making Tenten frown. This was just another man whom thought that he was stronger than all women just because he was a man.

"Well unless you've got some hidden transformation to rip outta your rear-end you aren't beating me _honey," _Tenten remarked mockingly, one hand casually on her hip as she waved her sword around in a chiding manner.

Yammy-clone gleamed, "**Careful what you wish for, woman, because you just might get it in spades!" **The bloodied up Yammy-clone struggled to his feet and held his katana at the ready, "**Be Enraged!" **Tenten had a confused expression on her face before a blackish orb of some sort surrounded Yammy-clone's body, making Tenten widen her eyes as the ground quaked a bit from the creature's power.

"What in the heck is this thing?" Tenten gaped while Yammy expanded in size. The orb exploded and blew Tenten several feet away, making her do a beautiful backflip and land on her feet to bear witness to something more disturbing rather than scary.

Before he was a giant, now he was a mega giant. His skull ridges became more pronounced, taking on the appearance of two huge purplish-grey head-coverings extending to the back of his head. His mask-fragments became one with his face and now acted as his jaw. The orange-markings extended to his back. His jacket and hakama were no more; instead Yammy-clone only had a caveman-like robe covering his private parts.

Tenten could see the many blackish orbs all over Yammy-clone's arms and the huge tail spouting from his rear-end and the claw-like fingers attaching themselves to his tail with the fingernails of them looking shark teeth.

If anything he looked like one massive dinosaur.

Tenten pointed at Yammy, "Okay, how many steroids did you eat for breakfast boyo?" Now that she actually looked at overly huge giant he wasn't so intimidating to look at… once one got over how enormous he was. Seriously, he was easily standing over 60ft tall at the very least… because his shadow alone covered all of the little girl's body (in comparison to him) completely.

But you know the saying one said: The bigger they are the harder they fall.

This would be no exception.

Where the hell did that man's sword go? How disgraceful of him to lose his sword like that in the middle of a battle. Tenten could only shake her head at the big man. He traded what little skill and technique he had for pure brute force and power. She guessed he didn't know what real skill was.

"**NOW BOW BEFORE MY POWER YOU LITTLE ANT! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME NOW!" **Yammy-clone bellowed. His voice alone suffered to deafen Tenten as the female member of team Gai dug out her ear with a bored look on her face.

"Uhhh. How about no you over grown ape?" Tenten quipped. With that Tenten sought to end this fight once and for all by dropping her sword and confusing Yammy-clone before she whipped out another scroll from her pouch and unsealed it to reveal a fairly long bo-staff reaching to her shoulder.

"How do you like it: shaken or stirred?" Tenten asked as she beautifully rotated her black bo-staff around in a complete circle after flashing through a series of hand-signs, her whole body glowing blue before the aura of sorts travelled around her and the increasingly rapid spinning staff. The aura seemingly became its own entity as it purged itself from the staff but remained in front of the staff while morphing into a creature with scales on its body and crimson red sclera with no visible pupils.

"**That trick of yours won't defeat me you foolish girl!" **Yammy-clone roared as he slowly raised his arm to bring it crashing down on Tenten and thus beat her. His arm started hurtling downwards at Tenten who suddenly gripped the middle of her staff and shoved it outwards at the incoming Yammy with a shout of…

"Kaminari no Odori Ryū (Dancing Dragon of Thunder)!"

It was due to the speed of which Tenten was able to generate into her move which gave it its name. And due to the ferocious speed of which the blue dragon entity created by the brown haired girl hammered into its targets caused mass amounts of damage. Only Gai and Lee could successfully dodge Tenten's most powerful jutsu. A large creature such as Yammy-clone had no chance of evading.

It was over!

"**AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" **The dragon punched through Yammy-clone's arm and tore it off completely before travelling through Yammy-clone's gut and making a huge amount of black substance spew forth from Yammy-clone's tummy as the giant creature started its descent towards the ground.

Yammy-clone rocked the ground and caused Tenten to jump involuntarily from the mini earthquake. Half of Yammy-clone's body was basically in the water as he coughed painstakingly, "**W-What… a-are y-you?" **She couldn't be a normal girl! She was too powerful to be one!

Tenten grinned beautifully, "The girl that just whooped your over grown rear-end all over the ground. So there!" Tenten struck her tongue out at the dying Yammy-clone before the creature dissolved into many white pieces before her very eyes, making her blink confusingly, "Well that was weird. I didn't think that would happen." Tenten shrugged before rounding up of what was left of the weapons that wasn't eradicated by Yammy's massive form, "Must be how the akatsuki created him… or something like that."

Either-way, that one was no match for her!

Perhaps it wasn't complete or something?

Gai's opponent was giving him a lot of trouble and he was much stronger than Tenten!

Tenten frowned. Nothing could ever be simple with the villains.

xXx

(With Tobi)

The masked-man was flying towards his fellow akatsuki-members after ditching the orange haired man back at that village after firing a cero at it. As far as he was concerned the battle was over, but the war was only just beginning. Even still, it was two-points earned for the fearsome akatsuki. He had already imprisoned The Gobi no Irukauma (The Five-tailed dolphin-horse) Bijuu after it was captured by his comrades. Now it waited until its brothers and/or sisters 2 and 3 three tails were sealed within the Gedō Mazō-statue before it got its turn to be locked within the confines of the statue.

It would enjoy that too rather it liked it or not.

"So, it would seem my other half's prototypes have been taken out… how unfortunate." Tobi spoke sarcastically, mentally referring to himself, "Wouldn't you agree… Kisuke-san?" He seemingly asked no one. After a couple of seconds passed it seemed Tobi didn't get a response.

"He must be sleeping." Tobi concluded. Tobi's other self was one of the purest parts within Tobi. He was single-handedly the reason why Tobi was alive today, as the madman was psychologically made within the depths of the genius' mind. This somehow explained why the Arrancar were not as powerful as when they were first artificially made by the mighty Sosuke Aizen.

Tobi's other-selves didn't want to slaughter anyone. Well that complied for a few of Tobi's other selves, three at best. The other three including Tobi himself didn't mind erasing anyone from this fake world Ichigo called _home… _for their own reasons it must be said though. Tobi 'cleansed' the sinful ones, while the other cold-bloodied murderers of himself massacred all kekkai-genkai-wielders or anyone who even so much as looked at him wrong.

The latter was the most brutal of all of Tobi's other selves. If it were up to him the Arrancar-warriors would've all gotten equal powers to the fullest extent. They would NOT have been watered-down considerably; to the point shinobi could match them… how foolish of that man to even do that. A shinobi who could match the powers of a full-powered Arrancar? That was so ludicrous!

That part of Tobi could take solace in the fact that those three Arrancar-warriors were nothing but prototypes created by a softy who missed his home and his friends… pathetic. Oh well. At least a brainwashed Hiyori had no such restraints and was fully capable of using her full power to kill anyone she came across who was dumb enough to release her from her prison within the confines of the tag.

It was nothing too complex that Tobi did with Hiyori. He simply strengthened her hollow powers in order for her to remain alive for these one million years, and completely erased her memories of her past and added fake ones that showed her being whole-heartedly committed to him.

She would die before she was allowed to be free from his control.

Who or what in the heck was Tobi?

And how would one Sakura Haruno survive an encounter with him?

Whether Tobi meant it or not he was heading towards Sakura and Chiyo's location.

* * *

**Who is Tobi? Don't be hasty now, I may just surprise you on Tobi's identity. **


End file.
